Field Hockey
The SMUS Competitive Field Hockey team concluded its season last week with a fifth-place finish in an exciting BC Championship tournament hosted by the Blue Jags at UVic.
In pool play, SMUS lost a hard-fought 3-1 decision to eventual tournament finalist Collingwood after opening the score in the first minute with a great Caitlyn Mullen tip-in on a penalty corner. The Blue Jags then capitalized in their second game against a rather weak Southridge team by winning 4-0 with two goals apiece from Mullen and Kendyll Adams.
The resulting quarterfinal against York House was a game that the girls and SMUS Field Hockey supporters will remember for awhile. After an evenly played first half, the Blue Jags took hold of the contest and dominated the second half, but could only manage a single penalty corner goal through Mackenna Brown, while also failing to capitalize on a few gilt-edged chances to put the game away. With its goalie pulled for the extra attacker, York House tied the game in the final two minutes after SMUS failed to clear their lines. The resulting shootout went to the eighth round, before York House finally prevailed.
“It was a heartbreaking scenario to miss out on a top-four finish through a shootout for the second year in a row,” said SMUS Head Coach David Kerr.
To their credit, the Blue Jags picked themselves up and finished with a pair of victories – a 3-1 decision against Shawnigan Lake School with two goals from Kate McQueen and one from Brown, and then a dramatic 1-0 win over last year’s BC champions, Seycove, with Mullen scoring from a penalty corner on the final play of the tightly contested game.
“A fifth-place finish was well-deserved for the BCs with the girls all playing to their potential and, as a team, showcasing a great passing game, very ably led by the quartet of Caitlyn Mullen, Kendyll Adams, Avery Geddes and Mackenna Brown,” Kerr said. “Given the depth of the roster, it was a very successful season with 18 wins, two ties and eight losses, and 72 goals scored and 24 conceded through the league and the six tournaments the team entered.”
Senior Boys Soccer
The SMUS Senior Boys Soccer team earned the silver medal – narrowly missing gold – as the Vancouver Island AA Championship tournament wrapped up last Tuesday at UVic.
The host Blue Jags met Courtenay’s Mark Isfeld in a tightly played championship final of the eight-team tournament, where a late second-half goal lifted the Ice to a 2-1 victory. Davis Hardy scored the lone goal for SMUS in the final.
With its strong Island Championships performance, SMUS earned a berth in the BC AA Championship tournament, which will be played November 18 to 20 at Burnaby Lake.
In preliminary pool play last Monday in the Island tournament, the Blue Jags beat Alberni 4-0, getting two goals from Junior Boys call-up Manu Achuthan and singles from both Camil Nacif Valle and Hardy. SMUS followed that up with a 5-1 win over Kwalikum in the afternoon.
That set up a showdown with Brentwood College in the Blue Jags’ final preliminary game on Tuesday morning with spots in both the Island final and BC tournament on the line. SMUS downed Brentwood 2-0, getting a first-half goal from Hardy and a second-half marker from Achuthan in the process as well as a strong performance from its back end and goalkeeper Rayan Shariaty.
Senior Boys Volleyball
The Senior Boys Volleyball team will head into this coming weekend’s Vancouver Island AA Championships as the South Island No. 2 seed after losing a close three-set match to Lambrick Park on its homecourt last Thursday in front of an electric crowd in the Lower Island playoff final.
Lambrick Park will also play host to the entire Island AA tournament this coming Friday and Saturday. SMUS has been placed in Island preliminary pool B with North No. 1 Mark Isfeld of Courtenay, North 3 Gulf Islands and South 4 Vic High. In pool play Friday, SMUS will face Gulf Islands at 1:15 pm, Vic High at 3:45 pm, and Isfeld at 6:15 pm.
“Isfeld will be a great game and all the boys are really looking forward to it,” said SMUS Head Coach Brady Doland. “Lambrick Park is hosting and it’s close by… We would love to get some more spectators cheering on the team this Friday and Saturday.”
The Island tournament semifinals go Saturday at 11 am with the championship match set for 3:30 pm.
In last Thursday’s Lower Island playoffs, SMUS beat Vic High 25-19, 25-21 in a semifinal before facing Lambrick in the final. The Blue Jags fell 25-16 to the Lions in the first set before bouncing back to win the second 25-20. SMUS led 9-8 in the third set before Lambrick Park rattled off seven straight points for the victory.
Senior Girls Volleyball
The Senior Girls Volleyball team will travel to Comox for the Vancouver Island AA Championships hosted by Highland Secondary this coming weekend.
The Blue Jags enter the tournament as the South Island No. 3 after finishing third in local AA playoffs which wrapped up last Tuesday at Pacific Christian. SMUS lost 2-0 to Lambrick Park in a semifinal before beating Glenlyon Norfolk School 2-0 in the third-place match.
The Blue Jags have been placed in Pool B of the Island tournament, along with South 1 Pacific Christian, North 2 Highland and North 4 Brooks. In Friday’s pool play, SMUS will face host Highland at 1:15 pm, PCS at 3:45 pm and Brooks at 6:15 pm.
