23^rd National Capitol Invitational Girl’s Soccer Tournament in Ottawa

The WOYSL U18 girls traveled to Ottawa for a very “hot” Civic Holiday long weekend. The games consisted of two 40 minute halves, with the winner of the game receiving 3 points. If there was a tie after regulation time, each team received a point; the game would then go into a shootout and the winner of the shootout would receive an additional point.

In their 1^st match up of the tournament, the Sarnia Spirit faced the Ottawa Internationals Inferno; at the end of 80 minutes Sarnia got their first win by a goal from Becky Lapensee that trickled past the keeper and ended the game 1-0. Danielle St. Germain posted her first shutout of the tournament.

In their second game on Saturday, the Spirit found themselves against their former rivals, the Colour Your World Sault Civics (who they played in South Region last year). Taylor Huggett started the Spirit scoring with a tap in from a corner kick made by Dominque Pasqual. Maddie McKelvie and Becky Lapensee added goals to the 3-1 win over Sault Ste. Marie.

Then early Sunday morning, the Spirit played their most physical game against the Ottawa South United Force. Maddie McKelvie put the Spirit on the scoreboard first before the game was put on hold as everyone waited for an Ottawa player to be taken off the field by ambulance. With the game going into added injury time, Lindsay Postil chipped the ball towards the net and right over the keeper's head making the final score 2-0. Danielle St. Germain gained her second shut out.

In game # 4, Mairi MacIntyre scored late in the game to put Sarnia up 1-0; however the Capitol United team managed to score with less than a minute left in regulation time, sending this game into a shootout. Capitol United managed to squeak away with the additional point by a score of 4-3 in the shootout. Shooters for Sarnia were Danielle St. Germain, Alicia Hutchings, Gillian Moore, Julie Kerr and Becky Lapensee. On Monday morning, for the final game of round robin action, Sarnia faced an emotionally defeated Challenger Avalanche team who had no points thus far into the tournament. Goal scorers for Sarnia were Dominque Pasqual, Becky Lapensee with 2 and Maddie McKelvie, ending the tournament with a final score of 4-0. Danielle St. Germain and Julie Kerr shared duties in net to get the shutout.

Sarnia ended the round robin tournament in 1st place with 4 wins and a tie for 13 points and would face the Ottawa Internationals Inferno in the final game Monday afternoon. After regulation time the game remained a 0-0 tie and was required to go to a shootout to see who would become the tournament champions. Shooters for Sarnia were: Gillian Moore, Taylor Huggett, Alicia Hutchings, Julie Kerr and Mairi MacIntyre. The Sarnia Spirit would have to settle for tournament FINALISTS as the home team won 3-2 in the shootout.