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Red Tide surges to B.C. bronze

Comox Valley United Soccer Club U17 Red Tide girls soccer team, sponsored by Shoreline Orthodontics, capped off their season with a bronze medal at this year's BCSA Provincials. This was the team's 4th trip to Provincials and their first medal.

The tournament opened with two teams eager for a win but the first 90 minute match against Penticton ended in a 1-1 draw with the Red Tides' first goal coming from Kayla Funk.

Day two saw Kiersten McLeod back on the field, after a lengthy injury, her speed catching the Port Moody defence by surprise. Sharp shooting by Danean Neill resulted in a hat trick and a decisive 4 - 0 win for the Tide. In their last round robin game the Red Tide took an early lead with a well placed free kick launched over the Surrey goal keeper by Alexis Koppa. The job of marking Surrey's top goal scorer was given to Jessie Grieve who did an outstanding job at shutting her down.

Much to the dismay of the Red Tide fans Surrey was able to net a goal in the 80th minute to tie the game at 1 - 1. Although still undefeated this left the team in a three way tie for first. Tie breaking procedures based on goal differential left the team one goal short, placing them into the bronze medal game while their opponents, Surrey advanced to the finals.

The bronze medal match saw the Red Tide kick off against the physical Kamloops Blaze team. Nicole Devonshire opened the scoring with her skilful footwork, followed by a hard shot to the back of the net, 1 - 0 Red Tide. Aggressive play saw them once again attacking the Blaze.

A rebound off of the post was picked up by Paige Campbell who chipped the ball into the upper left corner to reward the team with their second goal in the first half. Continued pressing by midfielders Brett Trainor and Madeline Wanless kept the Red Tide in an offensive position. An impressive run up the left wing by Hilary Graham led to a great pass to Nicole Devonshire who sniped her second goal of the game.

Steady hard effort by defenders, Jennifer Harrison, Ashley Bates, Christine Rowland, and Meghan Jerritt shut down any offensive play the Blaze could muster.

Much of the Red Tide's success at Provincials was due to the outstanding goal keeping by Maria Harkies. With her diving saves, fearless clearances and steady hands she conceded only two goals in the four matches.

Congratulations and thanks from the proud coaching staff of Christine Koppa, Greg Grieve and Darrin McLeod to the entire team for their commitment and effort throughout the season. Thanks also to our great group of parents for your continued support, to our dedicated field crew and to our manager, Kathy Campbell, for keeping us organized. Special thanks to Shoreline Orthodontics and Dr. Paul Helpard for your continued support of CVUSC soccer.

Crush Bring Home BC Gold

The Comox Valley United U-13 Girls select team travelled to North Vancouver from July 1st to July 5th to compete in the 2009 BCSA Provincial Championship. Their first opponent on day one was the team representing the Kootenay region, and the Comox Valley girls took control from the opening whistle. Early into the game Malia Irvine controlled the ball and placed a great ball into Shelby Jeeves who tucked it inside the far post to put the Comox Valley up 1-0. The strong backline of Brooke Bell, Mackenzie McLeod, Kelsey Harder and Jessie Russell continuously shutdown the Kootenay offence. The Comox Valley girls controlled ball possession with Quinna Laver having a strong left foot shot go just wide, and Megan Ireland charging in from midfield to put a shot wide on a nice lay-off pass from Shelby. After beating a Kootenay defender Delaney Carr threaded a ball through two defenders to Shelby who put it in the back of the net to put the Comox Valley up 2-0. Brooke and Kelsey continued to beat the Kootenay strikers to the ball, and when chances did arrive the goalkeeping tandem of Jamie Neill and Nicole Ward shut the door to preserve their shut-out and a 2-0 Comox Valley win.

The girls second opponent on day two was the Coastal Cup Champion Coquitlam team, and the Comox Valley girls started strong and played well from the early stages. Delaney was denied by a cross bar and then a post, with Shelby and Malia having good chances as well but the Coquitlam keeper stood her ground. Leah Cicon took an attempted clear-out and struck a high hard shot beating the keeper for a 1-0 Comox Valley lead. Nicki came off her line well with strong challenges to keep the Coquitlam team off the score sheet. Simone Bardonner had a good chance putting just wide off a Comox free kick. Delaney and Shelby then worked a short corner to perfection with Shelby putting a high dangerous shot into the goalmouth resulting in an own goal and a 2-0 Comox Valley lead. Megan, Leah, Malia, Quinna and Delaney all having good games, controlled the midfield with strong support from MacKenzie and Brooke as central defenders to give the Comox Valley girls the majority of possession. The Coquitlam team did manage a late goal to make it interesting until the final whistle and a 2-1 Comox Valley victory.

The girls third opponent on day three was the Chilliwack side that had bumped them from the Coastal Cup semi-final. The Comox Valley girls dominated possession and had the Chilliwack team on their heels and defending in numbers. Forwards Sarah Stewart-Grantham, Shelby, Simone and Victoria Oldale had the Chilliwack defenders and keeper working hard to keep it scoreless. Chilliwack scored on a long break out to put the Comox Valley team down 1-0, and trailing for the first time in the tournament, despite controlling the majority of play, eerily similar to their previous match with Chilliwack. Not to be denied the Comox Valley girls showed their resiliency and pushed forward to level the score, as MacKenzie volleyed a solid strike from a Delaney cross off the post and Victoria put one just wide right, almost levelling the score. Nicole came out to deny the Chilliwack striker, keeping the Comox Valley girls only down by one. Marnie Denham-Claire had a very strong game intercepting passes, going to the ball, and pushing it forward, along with Kelsey and Jessie, allowing MacKenzie to push up and put more pressure on the Chilliwack defenders. MacKenzie and Malia took over midfield pushing the defenders all back into the 18 yard box, with the bulk of the play remaining in this zone. With time winding down Delaney brought the ball out of the corner beating two Chilliwack defenders before striking a hard shot into the upper corner to tie the game with less than a minute to play. The final whistle blew with a 1-1 tie the result, giving the Comox Valley girls the extra point they needed to avoid tie-breakers and secure a birth in the gold medal game the following day.

The gold medal match-up was with the Vernon side who where undefeated in the other group, with 18 goals for and only 4 against. From the opening whistle it was evident that the gold medal was to earned as both teams battled hard in a spirted match. Vernon went up 1-0 off a free kick, but the Comox Valley girls pushed hard to equalize, with Shelby being denied on a penalty shot from a strong save from the keeper. Jamie came up with a timely big save to keep the score at 1-0, and Kelsey pushed backed hard to cut off an attacker allowing the girls a chance to equalize. Sarah having a great game controlling play on her wing, using her patented cut-back to beat the defender crossed a great ball into Shelby who drove it by the keeper to level the score at 1-1. Vernon pushed back hard with Brooke, Marnie, Kelsey, MacKenzie and Jessie all doing very well to keep the score even. Megan and Malia worked well in the midfield, taking balls out of the air to turn back the Vernon attacks. Nicki made a great save on a high shot that kept the score even and pumped up her team. Shortly after Vernon scored to go up 2-1, Quinna took procession of the ball and sent a good through ball to Shelby who placed a quality shot inside the far post to level the score at 2-2, where it ended at the conclusion of regulation time. In a very physical game several cards were issued and a Vernon player was dismissed after receiving a second yellow, leaving the Vernon side down a player in extra time. In the second half of extra time with the coaches preparing for a gold medal shoot-out, Comox Valley was awarded a free kick from just inside 30 meters, Delaney struck a high hard shot past the keeper to put the Comox Valley up 3-2 and the Comox Valley bench and supporters into a frenzy with only a few minutes to play. The final whistle blew with the Comox Valley girls winning the BCSA Provincial Cup and the gold medals that they wore proudly on the ferry trip home.

Coaches Darrin McLeod, Mike Oldale, Matt Laver and Rob Carr would like to give a huge thank you to all the parents and families for their support and wonderful job of keeping the girls focused, hydrated and prepared. Honourable mention to their Scottish mentor for the insight to game strategies. Thanks to Team Manager, Courtney Bardonner for all the organizing throughout the season. Congratulations to all of the Crimson Crush, on having all of their hard work paying off in being the first Comox Valley girls team to bring home the gold and the BCSA Provincial Cup.
 

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