Senior Girls Field Hockey
The SMUS Senior Girls Field Hockey team captured the Ferreira Cup title in dramatic fashion on Saturday, beating Quw’utsun in a shootout that went to seven rounds.
Avery Geddes scored in the fifth round of the shootout to keep the Blue Jags’ championship hopes alive and then Mackenna Brown potted the decisive shot in the seventh round. Notably, SMUS goalkeeper Lina Cratzius, who is new to the position, managed to thwart all but one of the Quw’utsun shooters as the Blue Jags prevailed 2-1 in the shootout after the teams had played to a 1-1 regulation-time tie.
“Lina was so cool and calm under pressure,” said SMUS Head Coach David Kerr. “This is the first time we have been in this tournament and it was nice to win it first time round.”
SMUS did not lose a game over the two-day tournament, hosted by Quw’utsun in Duncan and Shawnigan Lake School. On Friday, the Blue Jags enjoyed the better of a scoreless tie against Quw’utsun, then beat Brentwood College 2-1 behind a pair of goals from Brown.
In the Blue Jags’ first game Saturday, Brown scored on a penalty corner to power SMUS to a 1-0 win over Shawnigan, which led to the afternoon final at the Cowichan Sportsplex. As mentioned, the final was a tight game. The Blue Jags scored first, again through Brown, but Quw’utsun responded with a goal of its own with about 10 minutes to play to set up the dramatic shootout.
SMUS also met Glenlyon-Norfolk School in league action last week, winning 4-1. After the Blue Jags scored early through Kendyll Adams, the GNS team came back to tie the game on a penalty corner – the first goal the SMUS team had allowed so far this season. A strong second half saw Adams exploit some holes in the GNS defence to score another three times.
The Blue Jags, who remain undefeated on the season, will meet Oak Bay in a league game on Wednesday, starting at 4:30 pm at UVic, followed by the Independent Schools Athletic Association (ISAA) tournament at Shawnigan Lake next weekend.
Cross Country
Last Thursday, the SMUS Cross Country team travelled to Lambrick Park for its first race of the season. The rainy conditions made the course slippery and the runners had to be cautious with their footing.
In the Senior Boys race, which featured a number of elite club athletes, the SMUS team finished in second place, powered by an individual third-place finish from Luc Denux with Blue Jag teammate Owen Sandquist-Sherman not far behind in seventh.
In the Senior Girls 5K race, the competition was fierce but Beatrice Sharpe of SMUS overcame some early discomfort to finish fifth, with teammate Amelie Fleck hot on her heels in sixth place.
In the 4K Junior Girls race, Yashita Kaku was the top SMUS finisher in 17th place overall while, in the Junior Boys division, Michael Carpiano cracked the Top 10 by finishing ninth.
“It was a great start for the team, with many SMUS athletes getting their first taste of cross country competition,” said Head Coach Jeff Hunt. “Hopefully, week by week, SMUS will continue to advance in their training and make some improvement in the competition.”
Next race for the Blue Jags is this Wednesday at UVic.
Senior Girls Volleyball
The SMUS Senior Girls split three matches in Lower Island volleyball league play last Wednesday at Spectrum. The Blue Jags faced Reynolds (25-19, 18-25), Lambrick Park (21-25, 25-23) and host Spectrum (21-25, 25-15).
The Seniors have a busy schedule this week. The Blue Jags will travel to Parkland on Tuesday (October 1) for more league play with matches against Pacific Christian, Vic High and the host Panthers.
SMUS hits the road to Nanaimo on Friday for the Vancouver Island University Invitational, a 24-team event featuring squads from the Island and Lower Mainland. The Blue Jags have been placed in Pool C for that tournament, along with Yale, Ladysmith and Courtenay’s Vanier.
Senior Boys Volleyball
The Senior Boys Volleyball team went 3-3 in this week’s league pool play to bring its season match record to 8-4 so far.
The Blue Jags beat BC AA fourth-ranked Lambrick Park 25-13, 25-20 on Wednesday night at Oak Bay.
“That was a highlight for sure for us,” said SMUS Head Coach Brady Doland. “Lambrick was missing their libero, who is good, but it shows us that they are beatable.”
Over the weekend, the Blue Jags topped the Tier 2 side of the Spectrum Spikes and Aces tournament by winning their final three matches on Saturday, beating both Belmont and Duncan Christian 2-0 and then defeating Dover Bay 2-1.
On Friday, SMUS extended three tough AAA teams to three-game matches, losing 2-1 to both Royal Bay and Mount Douglas before beating Dover Bay.
“We called up Grade 10 Eric Thompson, who played fantastic in our finals match against AAA Dover,” Doland said. “Everyone played in the final and it’s all coming together. Connor Kipling and Elliot Mairet have played excellently all season and so did Grade 11 newcomer Seb Allard.”
The Blue Jags will co-host a 24-team tournament with Oak Bay this coming Friday and Saturday.
“There will be lots of volleyball at SMUS on Friday afternoon and Saturday,” Doland said.
Junior Girls Volleyball
The SMUS Junior Girls A Volleyball team opened its season at Vic High on Wednesday, winning four out of six sets over three matches against two Oak Bay squads as well as the host team.
Coach Jo Ross said everyone on the team did a great job applying a complicated new system and managed to compete fantastically. Special mentions included strong serving by Fiona Davison and Fallon MacKenzie, excellent play at the net by Mikaela Dubé and Elspeth Rodger, and critical defensive moves by Addie Tait. The team returns to the court the week of October 7.
The Junior Girls Development Volleyball team also showed lots of promise on Thursday in its first set of exhibition games.
“With some consistent serves and a few stellar spikes, the team is excited to play at Vic High to continue building towards a successful season,” said Coach Samantha Butler.
Junior Boys Volleyball
The Junior Boys Volleyball team opened Lower Island league action last Thursday, trading competitive sets with both St. Andrew’s and Lambrick Park and losing in straight sets against a tough Stelly’s squad.
“As expected in any season opener, it took a little time for us to settle into our rhythm and develop confidence in our court positioning,” said Coach Jordan Tessarolo. “However, once we found our stride, the energy and potential of this squad began to shine through.”
Tessarolo said all players received valuable floor time and the team showed resilience and adaptability, showcasing some promising teamwork.
“Kevin Li and Manav Kang rose to the challenge, sharing the demanding role of setter with skill and precision, keeping the team's offensive flow intact. Eric Thompson was a powerhouse at the net, delivering crushing hits that turned heads across the gym and put pressure on our opponents. The team’s spirit was lifted by the relentless energy of Benjamin Lei, whose enthusiasm kept everyone fired up through every point. In the libero position, West Dingle anchored the backcourt, ensuring our defensive structure held firm under pressure.”
Junior Boys Soccer
The Junior Boys Soccer team had a full schedule this week with both league play and the annual ISAA tournament.
On Wednesday, the Jags played host to Oak Bay, who have historically been a strong rival. The back-and-forth game was full of excitement and ended in a 1-1 draw.
On Friday, the Jags began the ISAA tournament at Brentwood College with a 5-1 win over Shawnigan Lake School. With strong attacking combinations and solid defensive press, the Blue Jags were well set to continue the momentum for the rest of the tournament. After a short rest, SMUS faced off against St. George’s. Trading goals in both halves, there was not much to separate the sides and the game ended 2-2.
Tournament rules called for penalties to determine a winner if the two teams tied in points. After a few missed penalties by St George’s, Deker Cardenas held his nerve and scored the deciding goal for SMUS.
Heading into the final game of the round-robin against Brentwood College, the Jags needed to secure a single point to earn a spot in the final. Host Brentwood needed a win against the Jags to find its way to the final. SMUS went down 2-0 quickly and couldn’t find many opportunities to score.
Unfortunately, an eventual 3-0 loss meant the Jags missed out on the final, but they finished third in the tournament with another excellent performance against Shawnigan in their last game, winning 4-0.
The Junior Boys are back in action with road games on Monday, October 7, and Wednesday, October 9, against Stelly’s and Belmont, respectively.
Senior Boys Soccer
The SMUS Senior Boys turned in two strong efforts in Lower Island league play last week, tying powerhouse Oak Bay 1-1 and narrowly falling 1-0 to Claremont.
A goal by Will Zielinski in the seventh minute put the Blue Jags up early against Oak Bay. Zielinski was assisted by goalkeeper Rayan Shariaty on a drop kick. Oak Bay tied it in the 18th minute and the teams were scoreless for the rest of the match.
Zielinski, Luke Lee and Dash Nelson were standouts for SMUS, which turned in a strong overall defensive effort to earn a well-deserved point.
In the Claremont match, the homefield Spartans scored the lone goal in the second half to earn the win. Shariaty, Quinn McMeekin and Marcus Lam led a solid defensive effort for the Blue Jags throughout the entire 80 minutes.
