They won their first provincial indoor title over the University of Alberta Green & Gold in March.
Next up for the ultra-talented Calgary Tsunami Blues was the 33rd annual National Invitational Oldtimers Soccer Tournament.
And while it took them a half-time adjustment to find their shape, the Blues bounced the Calgary Relics 3-0 Monday at MacDonald Park to complete a three-peat in the women’s 35+ division.
“The first half was pretty even,” said Blues’ striker and captain Jake Hertlein, who supplied eight tournament goals. “I moved Andy (Andrea Feaver) up top and Wendy (Lumby) to right mid and that gave us more possession and gave them and us a different look. Wendy is such a workhorse and she had a good match-up.”
Midfielder Jen Stevenson busted things open with a gorgeous left-footed strike top shelf off the crossbar from about 22 yards, 10 minutes into the second half.
Monica Zenari, also playing midfield, made it 2-0 when she basically ran the ball into the net with her stomach. Feaver completed the Tsunami attack on a header. All three goals came off corners.
“Our strength is our fitness and that was the difference today,” said Hertlein, a slick striker who played university ball in Florida.
The Blues, who had Vernon’s Tori Haller in the lineup for the second straight year, earned $600. They smothered Semiahmoo of White Rock 9-0, rocked the Calgary Eagles 5-0 and had to work extra hard to beat Dr. Lee’s Dental Clinic of Vernon 3-1.
“They (Dr. Lee’s) were a very good team; they were solid,” said Lumby, an Olympian who represented England in downhill skiing.
The Relics, who bowed 5-0 to the Blues in recent Calgary league play, got an MVP weekend from sweeper Karen Froese. There were nine teams in the division.
“We just ran out of gas,” said Relics’ playing-coach Joanne King, of the final. “They have a lot of young ‘uns, girls who are just 35. Their fitness just took over in the second half.”
Dr. Lee banked $400 for third spot with a 6-1 consolation final victory over Fresh is Best Sunday morning at Marshall Field #2.
Delinah Erbenich scored twice for Dr. Lee and was a scoring machine all weekend. Lori Phillips (2), Deanna Baker and Michelle McPherson also supplied goals. Great defensive play came from Kim Teichman, Dana Reid, Jenn Matsuda, Kim Wiebe, Lauri McTavish, McPherson, Lori Shippy, Cindy Worth and Kim Vandermeer.
The Dental girls started off the 47-team tournament with a 3-0 win over the Calgary Galaxy, with Erbenich recording the hat trick and Lisa Arrotta recording the shutout.
Stellar hustle was turned in by Sherry Beatty, Phillips, Ginger Nickoli and Irene Arrotta in the midfield. The Vernon ladies started off Sunday with a 6-0 win over the Calgary Jags.
Beatty cranked in a blast from just inside the 18 yard box, while McPherson clicked on a great run down the wing, tucking the ball in the right corner of the net. Erbenich (2), Phillips and Baker also converted. Lisa Arrotta recorded some great saves for the shutout.
The Port Coquitlam Cougars and Team NARF of Edmonton shared the women’s 40+ round-robin lead with 29 points apiece, and then met in Monday’s final, where the Cougars won 5-1.
“We danced until two a.m. so no more nine o’clock games for us,” laughed beer tent diva Donna Hill, in her 14th year of the Vernon tournament with NARF.
“They scored five goals in the first 15 minutes. They were good. They deserved to win because they showed up for 70 minutes and we showed up for 35. We won the second half so we’re happy about that. And we really missed Eddie (injured Vernon pick-up Edeen Ramsey) in the final.”
Fran Costello and Sandra Flood of NARF have also made 14 straight tournamen showings. Nancy Rush of PoCo was MVP.
United, led by Shelly Johnston, organized the event, with help from the Vernon Soccer Association, as a fundraiser for the 2013 World Masters Games in Italy. NOU was given the prestigious George Stein Memorial Triple S (skill, sportsmanship, support) award by George’s son, Marty.
Calgary Turin toppled NOU 1-0 in the consolation final.
NOU got a surprising boomer goal from keeper Dar Wiese and one from Andrea Zubot in a 2-1 victory over Calgary Banyana. United also bowed 3-0 to Team NARF and lost 5-0 to Turin.
