Having to travel all the way to Nelson, or being slotted into what might have been called the “Group of Death” — either one or both could have played factors in the Frances Kelsey Breakers struggles in pool play at the provincial AA girls soccer championships last weekend.
But head coach Brian Johnston wasn’t looking for excuses. After all, his team only played one questionable game, and turned things around in the playoffs to finish a respectable 13th in B.C.
The Breakers went winless and goalless in their three pool play games, and wound up in the playoffs with a best-possible finish of 13th. St. Michaels University School, who Kelsey beat in the Island semifinal, meanwhile, finished second in a easy group and ended up fifth overall, while Island champs Ladysmith also had tough group and finished up ninth.
“There were no easy games or teams in our pool,” Johnston said. “It was a tough pool; probably one of the toughest. But at the end of the day, you have to perform.”
The Breakers’ opening game on Thursday morning was the lone disappointing one as they lost 4-0 to South Kamloops.
“The girls would be the first to say they probably didn’t play as well as they would have liked,” Johnston said. “Maybe it was the travel, but they didn’t seem to have any legs in the game, for whatever reason.”
Things improved significantly that afternoon as Kelsey was defeated 3-0 by Little Flower Academy.
“It was a much better game,” Johnston said. “It was probably even in terms of chances; they just happened to finish their chances and we didn’t.”
On Friday morning, the Breakers closed out pool play with a 2-0 loss to St. Thomas More, the eventual provincial champions.
“That was probably our best game, to be honest,” Johnston said. “They’re a good team, a notch above us, for sure. They were deserving of the win, but they had to work hard for it.”
Finishing fourth in the pool, the Breakers trounced Nechako Valley 6-1 in the first round of the playoffs on Friday afternoon thanks to a hat trick by Emerald White and two goals by Ashley Grant.
“It was nice to get an easier game,” Johnston said. “By the second day, the girls had started to get a bit of a rhythm.”
The Breakers sealed up 13th place by beating Langley Fundamental 4-3 on penalty kicks in the 13/14 game on Saturday morning.
Langley opened the scoring, but Anna Slang replied for Kelsey a minute later. Again Langley pulled ahead, but Slang immediately set up the next tying goal by Robyn Zinkan. An outstanding individual effort by Rikki-Anne Keen put Kelsey in front, and this time it was Langley’s turn to tie things up quickly. The match went to penalty kicks, and Breakers goalkeeper MacKenna Posey turned aside three of Langley’s four shots, while the Kelsey kickers buried all of their attempts.
“She got the ‘W’ for us in that game,” Johnston said of Posey.
Based on the quality of competition at provincials, the Breakers were right in the mix, but their rough luck in the early going set them back.
“Realistically, the fifth to 14th teams were probably all pretty close,” Johnston said. “The bottom two were weaker, and the top four were in a class all their own.”
For the players, the memories will be about more than just soccer. The players were surprised on their way to Nelson when they were told they would have to perform a musical skit at provincials and ended up rehearsing in the parking lot of a desolate gas station in Greenwood. They also enjoyed post-game ice baths in Kootenay Lake and the Columbia River.
As for the on-field aspect, Johnston was pleased with the Breakers’ play, even if the results weren’t ideal.
“I was really happy with the performance, for sure,” the coach said. “They always gave 100 per cent, and that’s all you can do.”