THEY took very different paths to get to this point, but all of that is just preamble now as the Argyle Pipers and Handsworth Royals senior girls soccer teams get set to battle the best in British Columbia at North Vancouver's Inter River Park starting tomorrow.
Argyle was awarded hosting duties for the 2013 AAA provincial championships before the season began, guaranteeing them a spot in the tournament regardless of how they performed during the regular season and playoffs. So without the pressure or motivation of elimination hanging over them, how did the Pipers do? Pretty great, actually. Argyle went undefeated in the tough North Shore league and then breezed through the North Shore/
Burnaby/New Westminster playdowns to emerge as the zone's top team and a clear cut No. 1 seed for the provincial championships.
"They've played really well, I'm pleased with them," said Argyle head coach Darren Rath on Monday as he and the Pipers scrambled with final preparations for the tournament. "They played each game like it was any other game, any other season and I'm pleased that they've showed improvements throughout the season. They're in good spirits right now."
The Pipers boast an experienced lineup featuring 10 players who are in Grade 12, including standout goalkeeper Austin Studer, defenders Alex Fiorvento and Gemma Fox and midfielders Jessie Blanchard and Danielle Yallouz. Grade 11 forward Mikaela Kautzky set the pace up front.
The team was gifted their spot at the championships because of their hosting duties but they've proven over and over again this season that they belong. Now, however, it all resets for a furious stretch of five games in three days, said Rath.
"Anything can happen - and I've seen a lot of things happen," he said. "It's not based on past performance, it's not based on how you did in the league, it's not based on who has stronger players on paper. It's based on who scores the most goals in that game and who has things go their way."
The path for Handsworth was very different. Normally a provincial powerhouse, the Royals rolled over early in the season en route to winning just one of their six league games. Actually, it was their ankles that were doing the rolling. More than half of their starting lineup went down with sprains, strains or worse in the season's first few weeks. It got so bad that the Royals cancelled a trip to Kelowna for a tournament.
"We couldn't go, the team was too beat up," said Anne Farnan, co-coach of the team along with Carrie van der Linden. "We knew we had a good team (but) the players that were injured were all our top players."
By the time the playoffs rolled around, however, all of those ankles were healed enough that the Royals could field a full team.
"It took a lot of tape," said Farnan with a laugh. Handsworth began postseason play with a tense 1-0 win over West Vancouver to set up a showdown against New Westminster for a berth in the provincial championships. All doubts about the team's talent and health were erased on that day when they smashed New West 7-0 to emphatically punch their ticket to provincials.
"I was a little bit shocked," said Farnan. "(New West) has always been a strong team - I don't know if we were exceptionally strong that day but we just killed it. We had to call them off - I don't like running up the scores. That was run up a little too high for my liking but you can's say to the girls, 'don't score.'"
Handsworth's season was a tough road for a team used to the fast lane but now that they've made it this far they're ready for all challenges, said Farnan.
"We've never gone this route before of just crashing right at the beginning and then rebuilding," she said. "It's been a great experience for the kids, that they can do that and come back and believe in themselves and come together as a group after falling apart right off the bat. . . . It helped build character. We were hanging on in games but we just weren't getting the results. As the team started to come back we started to grow and build and the girls, it was a good experience for them in the end."
The Royals have bounced back so well that the team is aiming to land themselves right into the championship final. They could even meet a familiar foe there - Handsworth and Argyle are on opposite sides of the draw so any meeting between the two could only take place in the finals.
"Here it is on our turf and we both want to win," said Farnan. "There would be nothing better than to have them both in the finals on our home fields."
Whatever happens, Rath is hoping there'll be a good crowd of North Shore soccer fans out to see a tournament that takes a lot of hard work from a lot of volunteers to set up.
"I have not had breakfast and I have not had lunch and I have not stopped moving yet," Rath said when contacted by the North Shore News. That was at 3 p.m. on Monday. The real action kicks off Thursday morning at 9 a.m. at Inter River Park and runs until Saturday with the championship final scheduled for noon.
"It's an atmosphere that the (players) don't get anywhere else," said Rath. "You've got the top players from across the province and it's definitely something that the players are proud of being at, it's something that the players remember for the rest of their lives."
For full schedules and updated results visit argyle2013.ca.
