They might be a little small, they might be a little young, but that hasn’t stopped Squamish United’s U15 girls’ soccer team from winning.
On Sunday, in Provincial Cup play, they hosted the West Vancouver Strikers in the second round of the cup at the Brennan Park turf.
If coaches Nicole Hoskin and Michel Lafreniere’s team started the game on back foot, the players began to press harder and fight for loose balls as the half wore on.
Controlling more of the play, Squamish was able to start getting shots but could not put them on target, as a number of shots drifted just wide of the net. By halftime, there was still no score.
After the break, Squamish kept turning up pressure and was able to generate more offence. Finally, midway through the second half, on the third of three successive corner kicks for the local girls, the West Van keeper was unable to control the ball, and Squamish’s Gagan Chagger jumped on the loose ball to fire it in the back of the net.
Squamish kept pressing and won more corner kicks, looking like they might add to the score, while the visitors failed to generate much offence.
With only seconds left though, West Vancouver looked prepped to score on the counterstrike and sailed a shot in from the wing, but keeper Tanreet Sekhan was able to keep the ball out of harm’s way and seal the 1-0 victory for the home side.
“Well, that was a fairy tale ending,” Hoskin said with a smile after the final whistle.
Squamish had earned a bye in the first round of cup play by winning their regular season, which ended the previous week.
“We won the league two weeks earlier,” Hoskin said.
Up to the point, Squamish had won every game, but once they clinched, they may have let down their guard, as they ended league play with two draws.
Hoskin said it has been a long 13-week season, with little time to rest, but that the team has grown in the process.
More than half of the players are underage, as nine of the 17 are 13-year-olds. Last season, in U14 play, Squamish merged the two age groupings into one squad.
During their first season together, Hoskin said the team played well, despite its relative youth, but they had trouble scoring goals.
“There were some growing pains,” she said.
This time around the coach expected similar results, as they finished in the middle of the pack, third place, at a tournament in Chilliwack in August.
“It seemed a lot like the team we had last year,” the coach said.
The group, though, had set its sights higher. For one thing, they wanted to generate more offence and set the lofty goal of scoring three goals a game, which they were able to do in their early games this season.
They also set goals of being the first to the ball on any play and of communicating more out on the pitch.
“This year, they’re just gelling better,” Hoskin said.
The team faced another challenge when their regular keeper was basically lost for the season to injury, so they brought in Sekhan, who did play some with the team last year, from Squamish’s house league to play in goal.
Another factor has been the team’s play in penalty shootouts, which Squamish practises vigilantly, and which was a difference-maker when the team played at a tournament in Burnaby.
“I think it really shows in those situations,” Hoskin said.
The team now moves on to the next round of Provincial Cup play, which should take place sometime in February.
