The Cowichan Crushers are on to the next round of the Coastal Cup.
The U14 Gold girls soccer team put together a 2-0 win over the Albion Wolves at the Sherman Road turf on Saturday to advance to the finals of the Coastal Cup, which is the championship for the Lower Mainland, with the top two Island teams invited to participate.
The Wolves, who finished seventh in their league, came to Duncan well-prepared for the match, and had the Crushers on their heels in the early going.
“For the first five minutes, it was quite eye-opening and I was worried,” Cowichan coach Neall Rowlings said. “They moved the ball well; luckily our strength and speed forced a counter-attack which changed the game completely. From that point on we started to pressure down the outsides.”
Taya Brubacher completed an impressive play from centre to open the scoring, which changed the flow of the game significantly.
“After that, our nerves calmed down immensely,” Rowlings said. “We started to move the ball around very effectively and take control of the game.”
The back line of Margo Blumel, Mona Johnston, Priscilla Jack, Jessica Butler, Ana Martinez-Shaw and Kaitlyn Atleo did its usual excellent work to hold Albion scoreless.
The Crushers added to their lead with a goal late in the second half, although no one was quite sure if it went in off the foot of Atleo, Jarrett Elliott or a Wolves player before it crossed the line. Regardless of who scored, the goal made it 2-0, and Cowichan keeper Ava Rodier stopped a breakaway down the stretch, among several other saves, to secure the victory.
Cowichan’s next opponent will be the Vancouver Athletic Football Club Venom, who they host this Sunday at noon on David Williams Field.
“We know what we need to work on this week to prepare for the VA Venom, and we are excited for the challenge,” Rowlings said. “This is the semifinals of the Coastal Cup — the winners will likely play the North Shore team who won provincials last year and also secured a league title.
“We have the team to win it all. We just need to keep focusing on the things we do well and putting the work in.”
Two other Cowichan teams also played Coastal Cup games at home on Saturday. The U13 Gold boys lost 7-0 to their Mainland opponents, and the U15 Gold girls lost their match 3-0. The U14 and U15 Girls gold teams have both already qualified for their provincial championships this summer.
