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They didn’t get the home-made medal they were seeking, but Newfoundland and Labrador’s entries in the Toyota Jubilee Trophy national women’s soccer championship did pick up consolation prizes as the tourney ended over the weekend in metro St. John’s.
Feildians Greensleeves were left a step from the podium and in fourth place after losing 1-0 to British Columbia’s Coquitlam Metro Ford at King George V Park in the bronze-medal game, a contest that saw the only goal scored with four minutes remaining in regulation.
As a result, Feildians didn’t join Holy Cross, which finished third at the 2017 nationals, as this province’s lone medal-winners at Canadian women’s championship. However, the Double Blues did pick up a trophy — the tournament’s Fair Play Award.
And although it may be less tangible, Feildians head coach Mike Oliver says the most valuable thing his young team gained this past week was the soccer education that came with playing at the highest national level.
“Going in, we were flying under the radar and that probably meant we weren’t feeling any pressure,” said Oliver, whose team was Newfoundland’s second women’s entry for the nationals, behind provincial champion Holy Cross Avalon Ford.
“Then we did well in that first game (a 1-1 tie against defending Canadian champion Scarborough, Ont.) and you could feel the confidence pick up and the momentum carry forward to our next game (a 2-0 win over Holy Cross).
“Getting that confidence is like having another player on the field.”
Feildians would have played for the gold medal had it beaten Edmonton Northwest United in their final preliminary-round game, but a 2-0 loss left them in the third-place contest.
The Stacey Hanlon-captained Double Blues roster features two 17-year-old players, including Zoe Rowe, who scored both goals in the win over Holy Cross, and another five who are 18.
In all, 16 players on the team are 22 and under.
“We were actually gaining confidence all season. We closed the gap on Holy Cross and our last two regular-season game against them were one-goal wins. That helped because we have nothing but respect for that team and what they’ve done,” said Oliver, whose team finished five points behind the perennial provincial champions this past summer.
“But now that we’ve been here (at the nationals) and accomplished what we did, we want to be the ones who get back here again.”
Holy Cross finished seventh after defeating Winnipeg Northeast 3-1 in a placement game Sunday.
Malorie Harris, with two goals, and Holy O’Neill scored for the Crusaders.
O’Neill had three goals in four games to finish as the tourney’s top scorer. Meanwhile, Harris’s two goals give her 31 tallies in national Jubilee Trophy play, tied for the most with Nova Scotia’s Leanne Huck. In all, Harris has appeared in 21 games at national championships.
The Royal Select from Quebec won the Jubilee Trophy gold medal with a 1-0 overtime win over Alberta’s Edmonton Northwest United.
Beauport’s Joelle Morasse, who posted the shutout, didn’t allow a single goal in the tournament.
The Jubilee Trophy championship was held in conjunction with the Canadian Challenge Trophy men’s tournament, which wrapped up Monday.
Holy Cross Kirby Group, which closed the men’s championship with a 2-0 win over the Saskatoon Revolution on Monday, were the Fair Play winners on the Challenge Cup side.
In Monday’s Challenge Trophy gold-medal final at KGV, the Central City Breakers of Surrey, B.C., blanked Ottawa St. Anthony 2-0. United DFC of Dartmouth, N.S., took the men’s bronze.
With their win over the Saskatchewan representatives Monday, the Holy Cross men finished seventh.
Jacob Grant and Isaac Bonisteel had the goals for the Crusaders on Monday, while Jack Haywood posted the shutout.
Including the playoff game, the Holy Cross men were 2-2-1 overall during the week,
On the women’s side, both Feildians and Holy Cross finished this past week’s tourney with 1-2-1 overall records.
Twitter: telybrendan
