Senior Boys Soccer
The SMUS Senior Boys Soccer team dominated the pitch for the majority of the game last Thursday, beating visiting Glenlyon-Norfolk School, 6-1, to lock up third place in the Lower Island AA league final standings. The convincing victory left the Blue Jags tied for second with St. Andrew’s, both with 3-2 records, but the Saints won the tiebreaker by virtue of their league win over SMUS.
Cole Michel was the most productive of the SMUS players with three goals in the match, including a pretty corner to open the scoring on which he curved the ball expertly into the net. Michel added his second goal on a nice assist from Saba Shariaty, to give SMUS a 2-0 lead at the half.
In the second half, Rayane Hmidi found the back of the net on a beautiful free kick. Sam Bruninx followed suit deftly flicking a high ball out of the air and past the GNS keeper for his team-leading 15th goal of the season. Kian Colgate then recorded his first assist of the year, sending a friendly pass to Michel, who had to simply tap the ball into the net for his third goal of the game. Finally, to close out the SMUS scoring, Will Woods tallied on a header.
SMUS has a bit of a break until its next action on Oct. 24, when the Blue Jags will play in a Colonist Cup quarter-final at Royal Bay.
Cross Country
The SMUS Senior Boys and Senior Girls Cross Country teams, respectively, ran to third-place finishes last week as the Blue Jags hosted the fourth Lower Island league race of the season at Cedar Hill. Seventeen Blue Jags runners took part.
In the Senior Boys race, Owen Sandquist-Sherman tied for first place overall, with teammate Eu-Rway Chew not far behind in 14th place.
In the Senior Girls race, Avery Geddes was the top SMUS runner, finishing in sixth place overall. This week is a big one for the SMUS team. The Island Championships take place on Wednesday, Oct. 18, at Beaver Lake. The Senior Girls race begins at 2 p.m., and the Senior Boys race is at 2:30 p.m.
“Hopes are high that SMUS can place high in the AA standings,” said Head Coach Jeff Hunt.
Field Hockey
This past weekend, the Senior Girls Field Hockey team travelled to Vancouver to compete in the ISA tournament, recording two wins, a tie, and one loss in four matches.
In Friday’s first game, a determined Shawnigan team managed a 2-0 win over the Blue Jags. For SMUS, it was a case of not converting domination of possession and territory. Shawnigan, meanwhile, scored a fortuitous penalty corner in the second half with a lucky bounce, and then added a second goal at the end of the game.
On Friday afternoon, the SMUS girls regrouped and easily defeated a weak Southridge team 4-0. Beatrice Sharpe scored twice for the Blue Jags, while Caitlyn Mullen and Mia Muller had one each.
SMUS needed to defeat Crofton House in Saturday’s final pool game in order to reach the bronze-medal match. Playing some of their best field hockey this season, the Blue Jags opened up a 2-0 lead, with both goals coming from Sharpe, and some dominant work in the midfield from Wynn Brown, Annabel Howard, Avery Geddes, and Mullen. However, Crofton pulled one back on a breakaway and then, on the last play of the match, scored on a penalty corner.
The 2-2 tie meant Crofton headed to the bronze-medal game with SMUS playing Glenlyon-Norfolk—the same team it faced the previous weekend in the final game of the Bridgman Cup. Once again, the Blue Jags beat GNS 3-0, with goals from Anika Delichte and Kendyll Adams.
“The result meant a strong finish to the tournament, but also showed how close the teams are to each other,” said SMUS Head Coach David Kerr.
The Blue Jags wrap up Lower Island league play this week with matches against GNS and Mount Douglas.
Senior Boys Volleyball
The Senior Boys Volleyball team is pulling its weight, according to Head Coach Brady Doland.
In Lower Island league action last Wednesday, the Blue Jags split a pair of games with Oak Bay, the Lower Island’s top 3A team, losing 25-16 in the first game, before winning the second 25-19.
SMUS also split with Pacific Christian (25-19, 24-26) before dropping a pair to Spectrum (15-25, 21-25).
“Not our best showing as we have beaten this team in the past,” Doland said.
Lincoln Faulker, just-declared eligible to play for SMUS last week, got his first start of the season and played well in the left-side power position.
“This allows us to play Jack Dube on the right side which helps out immensely in terms of blocking opposition power,” said Doland.
“Things are coming together and the boys are improving.”
Junior Girls Volleyball
This past weekend, the SMUS Junior Girls team finished first in its bracket at the Spectrum Spikes and Aces volleyball tournament, coming back from seven- and eight-point deficits in its final two matches.
Some of the Blue Jags’ highlights included: the strong service of both Kate Boonsermmit and Jada Aylseworth, who notably served 19 points in a row early in the tournament; fast footwork from Crystal Cai; good intuition from Sienna Shanks; quick pickups of shanked deflections from Pema Dolkar and Nya Tsang; and both Fallon Mackenzie and Tsang hitting with precision from the power position.
Meanwhile, the SMUS Junior Girls Development team has had a great start to its season. The Blue Jags are currently ranked second in the Lower Island league and are starting to gel as a team.
With a number of tournaments coming up, both SMUS teams will have opportunities to build on their game play. The teams would love to see students, parents, and relatives come out to cheer them on this Friday and Saturday when the Blue Jags host the ISA tournament.
Grade 9 Rugby
The SMUS Grade 9 Boys Rugby team went 3-2 in five matches at a sevens tournament, played last Thursday, under perfect conditions at Shawnigan Lake.
The Blue Jags got the day off to a strong start with a 25-0 win over Vancouver-based St. George’s School. This result was especially meaningful considering that SMUS had experienced a lopsided defeat against the same team just a week earlier. The two Liams – Whiteside and Pope-Lau – hit the ground running for SMUS with strong ball carrying and efficient game management.
After a short break, SMUS continued its winning ways against host Shawnigan with a 20-7 victory. There was heavy rotation with the starting seven, but the incoming players showed well and carried on the momentum for the Blue Jags. In this game, Emilio Vasquez dazzled out on the wing, and Eugene Leung, in his second-ever game of rugby, showed huge potential. Nolan Wharton tackled well for SMUS.
The third game of this tournament always figured to be the biggest challenge, with Vancouver’s Collingwood boasting a formidable rugby program over the past several years. SMUS started slowly, with Collingwood scoring two converted tries in quick succession at the beginning of the first half – both of which were the result of Blue Jags’ mistakes. SMUS did grow into the game, however, clawing back within two points. Unfortunately, Collingwood notched a few runaway tallies late in the second half and finished with a 26-12 win. Despite the scoreline, SMUS’s Santiago Flores dominated each collision and led by example.
Next up for the Blue Jags was Brentwood, a much-improved outfit compared to three weeks earlier. It was a gritty match that came down to conversions, with Brentwood slotting all four of its try conversions enroute to a 28-20 victory. Sebastien Ely contributed heavily on attack for SMUS, while Alfie Smith demonstrated defensive solidarity to field several dangerous kicks.
SMUS was able to rally for its final game of the day against a Barbarians squad composed mostly of players from Shawnigan and Collingwood. Drew McLeish-Shaw kicked well for SMUS in this game, while the stand-in captain for this match, Rodrigo De Leon, orchestrated play brilliantly from first receiver. Alexander Zabaneh, another SMUS newcomer, showed flair and composure, while Kieran MacKay contributed several big hits.
The team would love to see some student supporters come out to cheer on the boys right after the end of the school day, this Thursday, Oct. 19, as they host Shawnigan Lake. Kick-off starts at 3:30 p.m.
