One of the spiritual homes for field hockey in British Columbia will become the literal home for B.C. field hockey for the next three days as West Vancouver plays host to the senior girls AA provincial championships at Ambleside Park.
Collingwood School is hosting the event with their own Cavaliers looking to win their second consecutive championship. The tournament will provide a great opportunity to showcase a sport that's uniquely popular in West Vancouver at a great new venue, Rutledge Field, that is situated in a uniquely beautiful location, said Sara Bruner, Collingwood's co-head coach along with Ashleigh Gold and Catherine Underwood.
"It's not a bad place to spend some time," Bruner said with a laugh about the tournament's Ambleside location. "It's a chance to showcase a sport that is very popular in the West Vancouver area and a chance to kind of highlight that and bring the community together. It's a small community in which field hockey is so important, for some reason or another."
The Cavaliers are riding high coming into provincials after claiming their sixth straight North Shore title - five at the AA level and one at AAA - with an exciting overtime win over Sentinel last week. With several Collingwood players battling a flu bug picked up on a recent road trip, the Cavaliers were pushed to the max by a tough Sentinel squad.
The Cavaliers looked ready to roll to an easy victory after scoring one minute into the game but the Spartans answered quickly, twice erasing one-
goal deficits to send it into overtime tied 2-2. Collingwood's Rachel Spouge scored two minutes into the 10-minute overtime frame, picking out a nifty drop pass in a crowded crease and firing in an accurate shot.
"She just had a good shot to where the goalie was not," said Bruner. "It was a play you work on during practice and to actually implement it during the game was exciting to see for us."
From there the Cavs hung on, holding off wave after wave of Sentinel attacks while also feeling the effects of the flu. "After 70 minutes they were exhausted - and then you have 10 more minutes to play," said Bruner. "For us as coaches it was good to see their mental strength and it was good preparation for provincials because by the time you play the final game that's your sixth game in three days - and you're tired."
This season the Cavaliers returned seven players from last year's championship team while adding nine newcomers. This Collingwood team doesn't have the star power of last year's squad but work as a group, said Bruner, adding that leadership comes from Grade 12 captains Isabelle Gouin and Carley De Pyffer along with fellow seniors Jasmine Keller, Samantha McCord, Nicole Darc and Samantha Steiner.
"It's a very different team from last year," said Bruner. "We still have regional players and some provincial players but they all play really well as a team."
The Cavaliers likely won't, however, be the favourites coming into this year's tournament, said Bruner. St. Michael's University comes in as the No. 1 seed after toppling always tough Shawnigan Lake in the Vancouver Island championship. Vancouver's Crofton House is another top seed, with Collingwood and Sentinel rounding out the main contender list. North Vancouver's Windsor secondary will also hit the field in the 12-team tournament. This is a year with no dominant powerhouse team, said Bruner.
"I think there are about four or five teams that, anything could happen on any given day," she said. "I wouldn't put money on any one team. It's kind of fun."
The action starts today with pool games running on three fields at Ambleside until 4 p.m. and again Thursday morning. The playoffs begin Thursday afternoon with semifinals scheduled for Friday at 9:30 a.m. The gold medal game will be played at 3 p.m. Friday at Rutledge Field. Visit the tournament website for updated schedules and results.
