In a season in which they won almost everything, the Handsworth Royals senior girls field hockey team needed two consecutive heart-stopping shootout victories to win the biggest thing.
On Friday the Royals finished off a dream season by defeating the Kelowna Owls in a shootout following a 0-0 tie in the final of the provincial AAA championship tournament held in Richmond. That dramatic win followed another shootout victory over Mount Douglas in the semifinals following a 1-1 tie, the golden finish ending a season that also saw the Royals claim every tournament they entered while also winning always-tough North Shore AAA league.
Head coach Graham Walker marvelled at the calm and cool way his team proceeded through the provincial championships, including their dominant performances in both shootouts.
“The girls were quite obviously very mentally prepared for this provincial championship and wanted to really see if they could win it and finish off such a terrific season,” he said. “They were a really special team of girls this year. I’ve coached the Handsworth senior team now for four years, and been involved with high school field hockey at Handsworth for a lot longer than that, and this is a pretty unique group of players. They really came together and bonded and gelled as one unit and one team right out of the gate in early September. They only just improved as a mental unit, one great group of really close friends from there. And I really think that was what carried them forward this season and gave them that intensity and energy to do so well.”
The dream season saw the Royals win the season-opening Polar Bears tournament, the popular UBC tournament, and the prestigious Bridgman Cup featuring the top teams in the province.
Last week the Royals cruised through the provincial championships until the semifinals where they battled a tough and tightly organized Mount Douglas team to a draw.
“They were a very good team,” said Walker. “They had exceptionally strong defence.”
Handsworth goaltender Hannah Rumble, recently recovered from a concussion, came up big in the shootout, allowing the Handsworth shooters to go to work and lock down the win.
The final was another tight affair, with Handsworth generating a number of opportunities but failing to capitalize. The team’s offence was slowed by the bouncy, rubber-based turf that the tournament was played on, said Walker, whose team plays most of its games at West Vancouver’s Rutledge Field which is a water-based, field-hockey specific surface. The little bits of black rubber did their best to help thwart many good scoring opportunities.
“The girls just played a phenomenally strong offensive game with lots and lots of opportunities – there were just lots of bouncing balls that just missed posts here and there,” said Walker. “We had a lot of opportunities to be ahead in that game and I think if it had been a game on Rutledge we likely would have been able to capitalize on some of them. But we just couldn’t do it on that particular surface. The girls, in terms of their strategy and just completing all their tactics, they played great. They moved the ball beautifully. It’s just when it came to actually touching it into the back of the net, there were just little misses here and there because of wayward balls.”
The game once again came down to a shootout, and again the Royals got big saves from Rumble and big goals from their shooters to claim the title.
“I certainly had lots of confidence in my players, in their shootout abilities,” said Walker. “And I think they did as well. Especially in the final, because they had already gone through it in the semifinal. I think they were really confident and knew what manoeuvres to make against a goaltender on the type of a surface.”
Walker credited his team’s depth with helping them come out on top in tough tournaments throughout the year and his strong roster allowing the Royals to keep up a relentless attack.
“Overall we had a really strong group of field hockey players,” he said. “It’s not just our starting 11 either, it’s right up through the ranks. That’s really what made the difference. … We had lots and lots of subs that we could put on that could continue the pressure and the energy. We were lucky to have that, we really were. That really carried the team forward a lot this year.”
And when it was all on the line in the shootouts, his players rose to the occasion.
“They made it happen, those girls.”
Highlanders finish sixth
The West Vancouver Highlanders also made the championship round at the provincial AAA tournament, finishing second in their pool to advance into the playoffs. A quarterfinal loss to Cowichan knocked them out of medal contention but a win over Oak Bay put them into the fifth place game. There they lost to the host school, McMath Secondary, to end up in sixth place. Head coach Glenda Schoenroth recapped West Van's season in a note to the North Shore News:
"The WVSS Senior Field Hockey stayed in the top spot in the North Shore standings up until Handsworth beat them in their last league game and the final championship match. Both were very good competitive matches. WVSS finished second in the High School League. The team was made up of players who play all year long and some who concentrate on playing field hockey in spring league and in high School. They were a committed group of athletes who worked together to support their school, teammates and to qualify for provincials. That was their main goal.
The team came second at the UBC Field Hockey tournament, third at the Polar Bears tournament and fifth at the prestigious Bridgman Tournament at UVIC. The WVSS squad finished sixth at provincials. Their final match finished in a tie so they went to shootouts which ended in a tie. Then it went to a knockout round of shootouts. McMath scored which ended the game and landed West Van in the 6th position. Myself (head coach), Elisse Balen (assistant coach) and Cheryl Johnston (manager) were very pleased at the effort and positive attitudes the girls exhibited at the tournament. We were complimented on our respectful manner shown towards players, teams and officials throughout the tournament."
