IF you're going to beat the best, you're going to need a plan.
The Collingwood Cavaliers senior field hockey team followed that strategy perfectly Thursday night at Rutledge Field, frustrating the previously undefeated Handsworth Royals to claim the North Shore title with a 2-1 win.
The contest was a battle of two top-ranked programs with Collingwood No. 1 in the smaller AA division and Handsworth atop the charts in AAA. The Royals, in fact, are defending AAA provincial champions and had not lost a game since 2010 before falling to Collingwood. The two teams met twice earlier this season with Handsworth scoring wins of 2-0 and 41. The Cavaliers, however, won when it counted Thursday with a North Shore banner on the line. As the final whistle sounded they raced to their own end, tackled goalie Meg Isaac and formed one hugely happy dog pile.
"I can't even put it into words," co-captain Leah Frome said, moments after pulling herself out of the pile. "It's like, it was the most amazing feeling today. I'm really speechless about it. It was so much fun to do as a team as opposed to individuals. We just pulled it off together."
Frome played a huge part in the win, scoring early in the first half off of a short corner to give the Cavaliers an important early lead. The Cavs then went into lockdown mode, dropping most of their players behind the ball and clogging up the passing lanes.
In the second half the Royals pressed continuously and finally broke through with star sniper Stephanie Norlander whacking in a shot off of a short corner to tie it up. It seemed as if the Royals were ready to roll from there but Collingwood stormed right back, flicking the offensive switch back on and winning a pair of short corners, the second of which was converted again by Frome. From there the Royals went back on the attack - they won 18 short corners to Collingwood's four - but the Cavaliers held firm and shut down all opportunities.
"We fought as a team and we believed in each other as individuals and that's what won the game for us today," said Frome.
"It's amazing," said Collingwood's Ashleigh Gold, co-coach along with Catherine Underwood and Sara Bruner. "The girls played so well together as a team and they stuck to it no matter what happened on the field. The kept their cool and they kept to the game plan."
That plan, added Underwood, was to be patient against the powerful Royals.
"The game plan really was to hold back, to make them come to us and then counter as a team, collectively move forward, create opportunities and take goals."
Handsworth head coach Paul Winstanley said Collingwood did an excellent job of keeping his team from doing what it does best.
"The key was them getting an early lead and then they were able to execute a defensive plan that we couldn't break down. . . . It was the first time this season that we've been behind," he said. "They had a game plan and executed it really well. We weren't able to adjust and they keyed on our better players and had a system and executed it better than any other team has this season. They're well coached and the team believed in the game plan and did a great job of executing it."
The Cavaliers, however, brought more to the game than just a plan. Co-captains Frome, Hailey Reeves and Katarina Angus have all played with the junior national team. Together they helped the Cavaliers control the middle of the field and, when it came time to score, Frome was on the mark.
"She plays with a lot of heart and she plays with a lot of determination and tenacity," said Gold. "She has an amazing touch on the ball. She's a very natural goal scorer."
For her part, Frome was happy to grab bragging rights in the tight-knit North Shore field hockey community. Most of the players on the school teams grew up together in the West Vancouver Field Hockey Club system.
"Two of the (Royals) are like my best, best friends," she said. "It's so much fun to play against them. Obviously we play against them, we play together, it's like a huge rival. It's really fun to conquer the North Shore."
The Cavaliers now set their sights on the AA provincial championship tournament which begins Wednesday in Burnaby. They'll come in ranked No. 1 but they also have a nemesis to deal with in Shawnigan Lake, the team that beat the Cavaliers in last year's championship game. This win over Handsworth will certainly help their confidence heading into the tournament.
"The girls have defeated the hardest team to beat in B.C. and that says a lot about them," said Gold.
"We're building confidence," added Bruner. "We're building and building and we're going to peak at provincials. And it's all part of the game plan."
