IN moments of pure euphoria earned after hours and hours of work and toil, genteel decorum can sometimes get booted to the side by spontaneous celebration.
Such was the case for Jessie Blanchard moments after the final whistle blew on a 1-0 win for her Argyle Pipers over the Oak Bay Breakers in the provincial AAA girls soccer championship final Saturday at North Vancouver's Inter River Park.
"I'm speechless. I'm so excited. It's crazy. We've been waiting for this all frickin year," she yelled in answer to a question from a North Shore News reporter. Except she didn't say frickin. Instead she used another similar yet more colourful word before quickly correcting herself with a laugh and apology.
No apology needed, Ms. Blanchard. You've earned this.
Blanchard, in fact, scored the game's only goal on a long blast late in the first half that sailed over the head of the Oak Bay keeper before dropping just under the crossbar in the top left corner.
"I did not think it was going in," Blanchard explained. "I was just like, smash it as hard as you can."
The unchecked enthusiasm continued for the Pipers following the win, the delirious girls lining up for photos on several occasions only to lift their forest green jerseys up to reveal their sports bras to the stunned and equally joyful Argyle fans. Brandi Chastain would have been proud.
Amusing celebration antics aside, "proud" was a word Argyle head coach Darren Rath used over and over and he described the effort put in by his team this season to earn their fun.
"I'm really, really, really proud of the girls," said Rath. "They had their minds set that they wanted this right from the start. They set their goal, they did everything in their power to achieve it and I'm really, really excited and happy and pleased for those girls because it's an experience that they're never going to forget."
Argyle won the bid to be the host school for the tournament before the season began, meaning that they would get a place in the championships as the host team regardless of how they fared during the year. Without the pressure to perform every game, the team still dominated, going undefeated in league and playoff play to qualify as a top seed for the provincial tournament. They began play on Thursday with a 5-0 win over Mount Baker and 2-1 win over Winston Churchill before meeting South Delta in the final pool game.
Needing only a tie to move on to the semifinals, Argyle fell behind early and trailed much of the game until striker Mikaela Kautzky scored on a header with just two minutes left to keep the championship drive alive. Next up was a physical battle against Coquitlam's Dr. Charles Best secondary with a berth in the final on the line. Kautzky again factored in the scoring, setting up Leanna Glass with a slick pass for a tap-in on the game's only goal late in the first half.
Saturday's final, played in perfect soccer weather in front of hundreds of fans on Inter River's pristine showcase pitch, started as a tight affair with few chances between the teams. In the 30th minute, against the run of play, Oak Bay sprang through the defence on a three-on-nothing breakaway that was shut down by Argyle goalie Austin Studer who sprinted from her line to smother the ball right off the foot of the lead attacker.
"Massive, massive save," said Rath. "That save is the turning point." Less than eight minutes later the ball was in the back of Oak Bay's net off of Blanchard's drive.
"Probably a good 30 yards out, maybe more," Rath said of the shot that sent the strongly pro-Argyle crowd into a frenzy. "Top corner, fantastic."
In the second half the teams both generated a few chances. The Pipers came the closest with a blast off the crossbar while Oak Bay poured on the pressure in the dying minutes but couldn't get past Argyle's strong backline. On the rare occasions they did break through, Studer was there to make the save.
With shutouts in both the semifinal and final as well as only two goals allowed in five total games, Studer was named the tournament MVP.
"When the most important games were up, she stepped up and made fantastic saves," said Rath. "They were all one goal games except for the first one, it could have gone easily in the other teams' favour if it wasn't for Austin."
Blanchard, meanwhile, was named to the Commissioner's 16 tournament all-star team. Her goal won the tournament but it was her dominant play in a defensive midfield role that helped put the Pipers in the final.
"She was one of the players who took the team on her back, determined to go out as a champion," said Rath. "There were a number of games where if the team was flat, she was stepping up and trying to make a difference. Games are often won by who controls the middle of the park and she's one of the engines of our team."
Sophie Swant, a standout basketball player, showed she knows how to find the net on grass as well, her five goals earning her a share of the golden boot award with Nina LaFlamme from Stelly's secondary.
Four of Swant's markers came in the 5-0 win over Mount Baker but, in a tournament that counts goal differential, they were far from meaningless blowout tallies. Argyle finished ahead of South Delta in pool play by just one goal.
"(Sophie's goals) put us through, that gave us the goal difference that we needed," said Rath. "She was fantastic all tournament holding the ball up, constantly in the penalty area (where) she's a danger to score goals."
Kautzky, too, was dangerous all tournament long, pushing the attack with her strong ball skills while also racing back to shore up the defence.
"Mikaela gives everything she's got," said Rath. "She's a leader, she looks out for the team, she battles both ways, she's one of the hardest working players on the team. She's always a threat to score and create chances. She did a fantastic job."
While the team was full of interesting stories and characters, Rath had particularly warm thoughts for the 10 graduating senior players, many of whom have been on the senior team for three years or more.
"That's what you always want - you want to be able to graduate as a champion," he said. "I'm really happy and pleased that they were able to achieve that goal."
On the other end of the spectrum was the team's youngest player, Grade 8 defender Kiana Mackay, who started several games during the season and held her own against the best in B.C. in the provincial tournament.
So how was she feeling after coming through the slog of five games in three days against players up to four years older than her?
"I'm really tired," she said with a laugh, adding that she wasn't counting on anything like this when the season began. "I never thought I'd get an opportunity to play with the senior girls and win it. . . . They were super nice. I was a little hesitant when I first came in. I thought 'Oh, they're bigger than me and older.' But I just felt welcomed, like family."
The championship was the 10th in team history, said Rath, and this squad could hold its own against any of the previous winners.
"It's right up there with one of the best in Argyle (history)," he said, adding that these girls had the benefit of doing it right at home. "It was fantastic to have the support of everybody on the sidelines. It really gave the girls an extra player on the field when everybody was chanting and screaming and cheering for them."
For all those screaming fans, there was nothing sweeter than the moment the Pipers started to scream right back.
