Following a summer full of significant sporting accomplishments by both current students and SMUS grads, the 2019-20 school athletic season got underway on two fronts.
Field Hockey
Senior Girls Field Hockey, tasked with replacing multiple seniors from last year, welcomed nearly 70 players to tryouts.
In the Tier 2 competition at the annual Friendship Cup in Duncan, SMUS, though opening with a narrow 1-0 loss to perennial BC AAA powerhouse South Delta, fought through to the final by virtue of 4-1 and 2-1 victories over Brentwood College School and Lambrick Park Secondary.
These latter results saw the Blue Jags again battle South Delta Secondary in the final. A valiant Sun Devils' rearguard action looked to have been rewarded with a late counterattack goal. However, a wonderful last-minute Eva Cuddihy strike secured a 1-1 tie. Then, aggressive goalkeeping by Jessie Cheng, along with shootout markers by Cuddihy, Rebecca Stone and Julia McDermott, confirmed a first place SMUS finish.
The Senior Girls Developmental team enjoyed three games in the Tier 3 division of the Friendship Cup and made significant improvements through the games, even though they were on the wrong side of the score sheet in their matches. Spirits were good and the athletes enjoyed the tournament experience before heading in to an exciting season.
League play for both the competitive and development teams starts up this week.
Soccer
Senior Boys Soccer hosted Collingwood School in exhibition action on Friday, winning a wide open and entertaining encounter 3-1. Two goals by Ben Shaw and a single from Callum Colgate accounted for the Blue Jags' scoring, with goalkeepers Philip Doerfler and Stuart Dobyns very solid.
In all, 21 players saw action, with the team looking forward to this weekend's ISAA tournament at St. George's School in Vancouver.
