THE Seycove Seyhawks senior girls soccer team made school history last year, winning the first provincial AA championship title in the history of the program.
This year there's a question on the mind of everyone associated with the team as the 2013 season kicks off on the North Shore: can they do it again?
The instant, gut-reaction answer would be "no." Not only is it hard to win any repeat championship at the best of times but the Seyhawks lost 10 standout players to graduation, including the dynamic duo of Meagan Pasternak, who was a rookie for UBC this season, and Nicole Saxvik, who also became a Thunderbird but for the women's ice hockey team. With only seven returning players from the golden team there were whispers of another R-word around the Seyhawks - not repeat, but rebuild
"There was an attitude around the community that it would be a rebuilding year and tough to do a repeat when you lose so many key players," said Sam Stackhouse, co-head coach of the team. "Everyone was obviously still really excited from last year but I think the loss of all those players was a little bit demoralizing because we did lose not only 10 players but 10 players who were really key to our success."
The early returns, however, suggest that those attitudes might need a bit of a change. The Seyhawks have already racked up two league wins, outscoring their opponents 10-1, and have collected exhibition wins over Windsor secondary - their longtime rivals for the North Shore AA crown - as well as a tough Chatelech team from the Sunshine Coast.
The rumours of a rebuild may just be proven false by the young Seyhawks.
"I think within the team everyone is really positive and all the girls who were with us last year are obviously really keen to go back (to provincials)," said Stackhouse. "That's our goal for this year - to do a repeat. It's tough and it's a challenge but I totally believe that we did it last year, we can do it again."
Carl Saunders, the team's other co-head coach, has been pleasantly surprised by a Seyhawks roster that includes seven players who are in Grade 10.
"Sam and I were talking about it being a rebuilding year but I must say it's tremendously encouraging to see the skill in some of these younger women now," he said. "We've got a team that's got a lot of skill, they don't have the same size that they had last year so if we can do well with speed and skill we'll be great. There's a fair amount of physical stuff too that goes on so that'll be our challenge."
Leading the way for the Seyhawks will be attacking midfielder Caitlin Milham, a member of the Vancouver Whitecaps youth program who won the golden boot and scored the championship-clinching goal at last year's provincials when she was only in Grade 10.
"She's a real force, obviously a central piece for the team," said Saunders. "Her first touch on the ball is awesome - she can get the ball under control anywhere. Great vision, passes into space for girls running on, great shot. . . . Other teams know of her, they're always shouting out 'watch out for Caitlin' out there. When she isn't scoring she's commanding so much attention from the defenders it's creating opportunities for others."
Milham will be joined in attack by outside midfielder and Grade 12 co-captain Amanda Pasternak, Meagan's sister. The team's other co-captain, Tash Perovich, will be counted on to anchor the defence from her spot as stopper.
Seycove's hot start is all the more important given a new league setup that will see teams play each other only once - last year each team met twice.
"There's not really any room for error," said Stackhouse. "We're off to a really good start so I'm really happy about that."
If they do somehow manage to pull off a provincial repeat it'll bring even more excitement to a school that has become soccer mad following this team.
"Everybody is hugely excited - it was an exhibition game against Chatelech (on Monday) and there must have been 40 parents there," said Saunders. "It's really about, for the most part, enthusiasm and feeling that you've got the support of the school behind you. It's back to that adage - people like to be around things that are successful."
