Shawnigan Lake School finished third, while Brentwood College School placed 13th and was presented with the Fair Play Award at the AA provincial field hockey championships in Vancouver last week.
Shawnigan swept their way through round-robin play, beating St. Michaels University School and L.V. Rogers by identical 5-0 scores, and defeating South Kamloops 4-0 to finish first in pool C.
That led to a quarterfinal showdown against York, which Shawnigan won. Shawnigan then lost its semifinal against host Crofton House in a penalty shootout, then beat Seycove for the bronze medal.
“It was a total team game and they all rallied together for this,” Shawnigan coach Andi Conroy said. “It was an amazing week of hockey, tight games and great competition all round.
“As a coach I could not be prouder of this bunch of young athletes. They have grown and matured in the game and as young adults.”
Brentwood finished third in pool A following losses to Collingwood, the top seed and eventual champion, and York House School, and a win over North Delta.
The biggest heartbreaker for Brentwood came in the consolation final against L.V. Rogers. Brentwood was up 1-0 and was awarded a penalty stroke when a Rogers defender used her legs to stop the ball from going into the net. Unfortunately, Brentwood missed the stroke. Rogers was awarded a penalty corner in the final minutes of the game, and despite pleas from the Brentwood captain to reconsider, Rogers capitalized on the corner to tie the score, then went on to win the match in a penalty shootout.
“It is always about when you lose in a tournament,” Brentwood coach Alanna Martin pointed out. “And even though we dominated play against L.V. Rogers, we could not put the ball into the net.”
Brentwood bounced back from that disappointment and won their last two games against Southridge and Southern Okanagan, both by 3-0 final scores.
“I am very proud of the way in which our athletes conducted themselves,” Martin commented. “Never giving up against two teams that had much more experience than us [Collingwood and York] and then handling the loss to L.V. Rogers with grace. That is sport: the better team does not always win.”
The Brentwood players were rewarded for their grace with the Fair Play Award.
“This award is voted on by the umpires,” Martin noted. “And it was a wonderful way for us to end the tournament.”
Cowichan Secondary is playing in the AAA provincial tournament in Surrey this week.
