Nothing was decided on opening day for the Charles Hays Secondary School girls’ soccer team, as the Rainmakers came away with two ties in a playday hosted in Prince Rupert.
Charles Hays hosted Caledonia Secondary School Saturday morning and although the Kermodes led 2-0 in the first half, the Rainmakers rallied to a 3-3 tie. Grade 12 student Brittany Waite scored the hat trick and accounted for all Rupert scoring in that one.
In the afternoon, CHSS tied 2-2 with Smithers Secondary School in a back-and-forth affair. Waite added another goal in this game and Reagan Pomponio also scored.
Despite not coming away with wins, coach Mike Cavin was pleased with what he saw from his team in their first game action of the year.
“I was really happy with their control. When the ball came to them, they would usually stop it and look up and make a play instead of just reacting and kicking it away. That was really good to see this early in the season,” he said.
Cavin added that it was especially encouraging to see the girls didn’t get down on themselves for being down 2-0 in the first game against Terrace.
Although the girls didn’t show much sign of rust and looked ready to go, there are a few things the coach wants them to work on moving forward.
“We need to distribute the ball a little more out to the sides of the field, to spread the opponent’s defence. We had a few nice shots, a few nice crosses so just working on the timing to capitalize on those will be fun,” Cavin said.
Besides the strength of Waite and Pomponio scoring goals, he added other players also had strong showings.
“The defensive line was anchored by Miah Hardy, Akemi Storey and Simian Padda who stopped many pushes from CAL and SSS,” Cavin said.
He also mentioned Kaiya Storey and Mantej Padda played very well in net. The two will be alternating the goalie position through the season.
The Rainmakers will travel to Terrace on Saturday to rematch with Caledonia.
