Caledonia Secondary School senior girls soccer team tied for second in the 2018 northwest zone championships this weekend, with Smithers Secondary School taking the title.
The Kermodes went 0-1-1 in the competition, tying Charles Hays Secondary School in the morning before losing to the eventual champions from Smithers in the afternoon.
In their first game, the Kermodes faced Rainmakers and took a 1-0 lead in the first half, with a goal scored by Jayde Gingles off the crossbar.
The Rainmakers managed to score off a corner kick to tie the game 1-1, a score that held through most of the second half.
But the Kermodes scored again off a nice shot by Eryn Struyk from just outside the penalty box, taking the lead 2-1.
The Rainmakers then managed to score a rebound off a free kick in the final minutes of the game to secure a 2-2 tie.
The tie set up a critical match against Smithers Secondary School, a fast team that applies a lot of ball pressure and has strong-shooting forwards.
The Kermodes lost 2-0 to Smithers — a score replicated by the Rainmakers later that afternoon.
Coach Warren Copeland said the team played well but didn’t get many opportunities, “and they’ve got an extremely strong forward who ultimately made us pay with a couple,” he said.
“Overall I think we played good in both games, but a few little minor mistakes against Prince Rupert cost us the win there. And yeah, Smithers is tough. They are always a very tough opponent,” he said.
Looking ahead, Copeland said it’ll be interesting how the team shapes up with the loss of Grade 12 players, which include Bryn Giesbrecht, Jayde Gingles, Tegan Dejong, Diana Harris, Jacey Neid, Delaney Kitchen, Deidre Lind, and Eryn Struyk.
“We’re going to lose a fair number of our seniors this year — all very strong players — so that will leave us looking to fill some spots on the line for next season. So that will be interested to see,” he said.
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