If Mike Oliver, coach of the Feildians Greensleeves women’s soccer team, is looking for some words for a speech to his players ahead of their game today in Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s, he might borrow the famous line from former Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis.
“Just win, baby!”
St. John’s-based Feildians takes on Edmonton Northwest United of Alberta in a noon game at Rainbow Gully Field, the final preliminary-round match for the two sides at the Toyota national women’s soccer championship.
Both teams take four points into the contest after each posted a win and tie in their first two games. If Feildians prevail today, the Double Blues would be guaranteed to play in Sunday’s championship final at King George V Park in St. John’s.
Playing for a gold medal is something no Newfoundland team has achieved in a Canadian women’s tournament. The province’s best finish was a bronze medal delivered by Holy Cross Avalon Ford two years ago in Surrey, B.C.
If Feildians lose to the Albertans today, there still would be the possibibility of them playing for a bronze medal, depending on results elsewehere.
And if the Double Blues and Edmonton tie, the chance for a medal for Newfoundland would still exist,
But again, it only would be a chance at a bronze.
In the event of them playing to a tie at Rainbow Gully, the two teams would be even in points, as well as head-to-head points and overall goal differential, which make up the first two stages in the tie-breaking formula. But Edmonton, which enters today's game having scored five goals in its first two games, would have more overall goals than Feildians, which has three goals in two games. Overall goals are the third tie-breaker if nothing is resolved by the first two.
There are no cross-over semifinal playoffs in the Jubilee Trophy competition. Instead, the first-place teams from each of the tournament’s two four-team pools will play for gold while the second-place finishers will square off for bronze.
To make things even more tangly, there is a chance of a three-way tie. That would happen if Feildians and Edmonton play to a draw while the defending champions from Scarborough, Ont., defeat Holy Cross today at the Middle Smallwood Field in Mount Pearl in another noon start.
Scarborough has two points from a pair of ties, with Feildians Wednesday and Edmonton Thursday. Teams get three points for a win amd one for a draw..
In the three-teams-tied scenario, Feildians would finish behind Edmonton, again based on overall goals scored, and possibly behind Scarborough, too, depending on how many goals the Ontario side would score in any victory over Holy Cross.
If none of the stats-based tiebreakers can resolve a standings deadlock between two teams, the tie would be broken by a special penalty-kick competition.
Given all that, you can bet that Feildians are hoping Holy Cross simplifies things and prevents any possibility of a three-team tie by beating Scarborough or holding the Ontario representatives to a draw.
Newfoundland champion Holy Cross has no shot at a national medal this year after losing its first two games, including a 2-0 setback at the hands of Feildians on Thursday. But while the the Crusdaers and Double Blues are arch-rivals in the local Jubilee Trophy League (Holy Cross beat Feildians 2-1 in this year's provincial final), it's worth noting both sides feature players who are teammates on the Memorial University Sea-Hawks varsity squad or who once played for Memorial.
Then again, if they beat Edmonton, Feildians won't need any assistance from the Crusader women.
None of the teams in Feildians' pool played games on Friday.
However, Holy Cross Kirby Group, Newfoundland’s lone entry in the national Challenge Trophy men’s championship, being held concurrently in metro St. John’s, saw action Friday and earned its first point of the event. It came in a 1-1 tie with the Winnipeg Lions in C.B.S., but the Crusaders (0-2-1) had gone into the game looking for a win to maintain hopes of a medal.
The Holy Cross men do not play today. They finish their preliminary-round schedule 9:30 a.m. Sunday at the Topsail Complex, where they face the Fredericton Picarroons Reds of New Brunswick.
