The Comox Valley Eagles U18 girls field hockey team travelled to Delta to compete in the BC Field Hockey Championship tournament on June 4- 5 – a weekend so warm and sunny you could see the heat waves radiating off the artificial turf field.
The Eagles faced the Surrey Sharks in the first game of pool play. Goalie Sandi Matthews was tested early on with a multitude of shots which she expertly stopped, holding the Sharks to 0-0 after the first half of play.
Sam Sakalak and Pragya Dawadi, playing on defence, also made some spectacular goal-saving plays. Despite a great effort from Eagles, the skilled Surrey team went on to win that match.
In the second game, the Eagles made some strategic adjustments that led to a 1-0 win over the Tri-City Hurricanes. The goal was scored by Megan Hedican and was assisted by Kyrsten Buchanan and Devon Phillips. Matthews recorded her first shutout of the tournament with help from the defensive line led by Shawnee Waterfield and also including Kaitlyn Card, Cassidy Paulson, Sakalak and Dawadi. With that important win, the Eagles finished in second place in their pool.
The quarter-final match was against an aggressive Burnaby team who capitalized on their offensive opportunities to win 5-1. The Comox goal was a brilliant team effort, starting all the way back with the defence. Dawadi stepped up to intercept a pass, then fed the ball up wide to Megan Hedican who made a cross pass into the circle for Kyrsten Buchanan to fire into the back of the net. The midfield line, including Devon Phillips, Tia Chartrand and Lauren Geneau, competed hard in this game and contributed in both offensive and defensive roles.
Day two of the tournament saw Comox in a rematch against the Tri-City Hurricanes. Matthews faced the first penalty stroke of the weekend and just missed saving a well- executed flick. Unfortunately, Comox wasn’t able to take advantage of the shots on net and the penalty corners they earned and lost 3-0.
The Eagles saved their best effort for last with a hard-fought final match against the Richmond Penguins. The whole team contributed with quick, accurate passes up the field and had more shots on net and penalty corners than any other of their matches. The offensive line, including Eilish McVey, Buchanan, Hedican and Dana Beirnes, played aggressive in the circle and had many great scoring chances. A beautiful goal was scored when Phillips made a long pass up to Beirnes who sped down the field and took a hard shot at the top of the circle for Hedican to deflect in behind the goalie.
The coaches were thrilled with the Eagles’ play over the weekend as they made the adjustments asked of them and got stronger with each game. “A huge ‘congratulations’ and ‘We’ll miss you to all the graduating players of the team: Kyrsten Buchanan, Megan Hedican, Sandi Matthews, Eilish McVey, Devon Phillips, Shawnee Waterfield and especially Laura Theriault (goalie) who was greatly missed at the tournament,” a spokesperson said.
For more information about the sport field hockey in the Comox Valley contact the association at cvfhl@hotmail.com or check out the website www.cvfhl.weebly.com.
