The Collingwood Cavaliers senior girls field hockey team topped off a nearly perfect season by winning the AA provincial title Friday in Victoria.
"It was one of those seasons where everything fell into place and felt good," said co-head coach Catherine Underwood. "Everything just felt right. We didn't even have any practices where there was rain this season. It was like everything was just lovely."
There was, however, one storm cloud that threatened the Cavaliers all year, seemingly poised to rain out their perfectly sunny season: the Crofton House Falcons.
Collingwood had lost only one game all year and it was against Crofton House in the semifinals of the prestigious Bridgman tournament. The Cavaliers regrouped after their Bridgman loss and battled their way to the provincial final only to find those same Falcons blocking Collingwood's quest for their first gold medal since 2012. The powerhouse Cavaliers settled for bronze in both 2013 and 2014 and looked like they were destined for silver this season after Crofton House took a 1-0 lead just four minutes into Friday's championship final.
"Crofton was out there to win," said Underwood. "Right away they got the ball, took it in, they got the corner, they scored. That put us on our heels. Throughout the season Crofton is the only team we've lost to, so it's the one team that plays with your mind a little bit."
The early goal only enhanced Crofton's status as potential buzz kills for the Cavaliers, and the Falcons could have had an even bigger lead if not for some strong saves from Collingwood goalie Natalie Dalton.
"They were dominating the first half, we were doing everything we could to sort of hold our own," said Ashleigh Gold, who combines with Underwood and Sara Bruner to form Collingwood's coaching trio.
"I think in the first half there was a piece of us that sort of went, 'Oh dear,'" added Underwood. "We gulped a little bit."
At halftime the coaches urged the Cavaliers to get back to their sunny ways. "We used this word 'ignite' as a metaphor for the season," said Underwood. "You need to somehow light a fire underneath you, create that spark that when you're down you have to use your teammates to bring you back up."
The ignition switch was thrown early in the second half by star Grade 11 midfielder Maddie Connell, who sparked a comeback not with a goal but with an end-to-end rush. After scoring their early goal the Falcons were content with pounding the ball deep into Collingwood territory and then harassing the Cavalier defenders into turnovers or penalties. Early in the second half they tried the same tactic but were stopped dead by Connell, who stepped in front of a full-force clearance and turned it the other way.
"It went about seven yards and Maddie stopped this huge hit, point blank, and then just went on a rampage," said Gold. "She just started picking off players left, right and centre and forced a corner. It was a pretty big game-changer, and then everybody started moving in the right direction."
The corner led directly to Collingwood's first goal four minutes into the half, a blast from Sophia Ludwig with Rachel Spouge providing a screen on the goaltender. Five minutes later Spouge tipped in another shot off of a short corner to give the Cavaliers a 2-1 lead. With the play now tilting drastically in their direction, the Cavaliers cruised the rest of the way to claim the gold.
"From that point on we just kept pushing and pushing and the girls gained confidence and gained momentum, and we ended up dominating the second half with them having very little scoring opportunities," said Gold. "This team wholeheartedly believed that we would win gold. When we were down 1-0 I don't think there was any doubt in our minds that we would come back and this would be a win."
Underwood credited the team's only three Grade 12 players - Hailey Szybunka, Alexa Timlick and Spouge - with keeping the Cavaliers cool even when they were getting dominated in the first half of the final. "Those three stepped in there and said 'No, this game is not going to end like this. We're finishing this season with the gold,'" said Underwood.
Szybunka and Spouge in particular, team co-captains, have grown into leadership roles since first joining the senior team as Grade 9 players four years ago, the last time the Cavaliers won provincial gold. "(Hailey) is one of those players who is very determined and has a lot of drive. She kept the team going with the way that she dictated the play and never gave up," said Underwood.
Spouge, meanwhile, was indispensable for the Cavaliers, playing rock solid defence from the centre back position while also contributing on offence.
"She pretty much controls the whole play on the field," said Underwood. "She scores goals, she's made incredible passes - I don't think we could have won without her."
While it was almost inevitable that the Cavaliers would face Crofton in the provincial final, Collingwood took on another very familiar foe in the semifinals. The Seycove Seyhawks came into the tournament ranked 11th but battled all the way to the championship round before losing to Collingwood 2-0. Seycove is not known for having a strong field hockey program but this year they ended up finishing fourth at provincials, losing 2-0 to the host team from St. Michaels University School in the bronze medal game.
"We were really proud of Seycove and how well they did," said Gold. "They really, really stood up well at provincials. For them to come top four is a phenomenal statement for how strong the North Shore is.... They have great athletes, they have a great coach and they're determined."
As for Collingwood, their strong program keeps on rolling. They've won a provincial medal every years since 2008, totalling four golds, two silvers and two bronzes over that time period. One thing they haven't done during the streak, however, is win gold in back-to-back years. With only three players graduating from this season's team, the Cavaliers should be well-positioned for another golden run next year.
"I think it's completely doable," said Underwood of repeating as champions next year. "This group of girls is pretty outstanding. It's very different from any of the teams we've had over the last four years, mostly because they really work together as a team. The love playing field hockey together."
This year's Cavaliers team was so committed that even the coaches had to raise their levels just to keep up, said Underwood. "I feel this team inspired me to be a better coach because they were so determined to be successful," she said. "Honestly at the end of the day we worked harder than we've ever worked as coaches because they wanted it. They were driven, they wanted to learn more.... I'm so proud of these girls. I'm so grateful for having the opportunity to coach this team."
