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Newmarket Soccer Club 2008
All Star Classic
July 5/6
Newmarket, Ontario
The Sarnia Spirit traveled to
Newmarket on the weekend to take part in the 2008 All Star
Classic hosted by the Newmarket Soccer Club. Due to some
last minute cancellations, tournament organizers combined
the U-12 and U-13 divisions to make a full bracket
consisting of 6 teams. The division was made up of the
Sarnia Spirit (U-12), Newmarket All Stars (U-12), Barrie
(U-12), Aurora Stingers (U-13), Milton Magic (U-13), and
Lincoln Storm (U-13).
The Spirit had 3 matches
scheduled for Saturday at the Ray Twinney Complex, with
their 1st match-up against the Newmarket All
Stars. Sarnia came out and controlled much of the play with
a noticeable improvement in passing and communication. The
Spirit’s midfield and defense played very consistent, moving
play out to the side and up the pitch to their attackers and
eventually opened the scoring with a well placed shot from
#8 Emily Sparham on a picture perfect cross from #15
Brittany Sefton. Sarnia was now poised for their opening
game victory and began to focus on defensive strategy;
however, Newmarket had plans of their own, and in the final
minutes of the game scored a late goal on a broken play
inside the box. The whistle blew shortly after giving both
teams a draw. Sarnia’s Players of the Game were #12 Maria
Vani and #17 Melissa Bennett as voted by their team-mates.
Sarnia’s 2nd match
was against the U-13 Aurora Stingers. Admittedly, Sarnia
was somewhat concerned going into the game as their
opponents had a significant size advantage as well as
another year’s experience in the game. But with that said,
the Spirit’s coaching staff was confident that the girls
could handle the challenge and let Aurora know that they
were a force to be reckoned with. And the girls did not
disappoint. The Spirit came out and moved the ball around
as they had done in their previous match, and did not let
the Aurora team have any opportunity to intimidate them.
Supported again by a very strong defensive line, Sarnia was
able to move the ball through the midfield and into Aurora’s
end on a consistent basis. Sarnia’s goal-keeping tandem of
#16 Emily Peckham and #1 Kayla Griffiths continually shut
the door on any attempts made by Aurora to enter the box.
Both goalies played very aggressive and controlled all play
within their 18 yard box. All of this defensive support
gave Sarnia the confidence to move up-field and make
attempts at net, which resulted in two high quality goals
from the Spirit’s captain #12 Maria Vani. This was a very
high tempo game with opportunities on both ends, but when it
was all said and done, the Sarnia Spirit played the better
match earning them the 2-0 victory. Player of the Game
honours went to #16 Emily Peckham as voted by her
team-mates.
The 3rd match of the
day pitted Sarnia against Barrie. Both teams were from the
original U-12 division and seemed to match-up well. The
Spirit were feeling very confident going into the game
coming off of one of their best performances to date beating
the U-13 Aurora Stingers. Sarnia’s previous game victory
had virtually secured them a spot in the Semi-Finals, but
they still needed to play hard to earn a good position going
into the final day. Both teams came out firing in this
match looking to secure their spot in the Semi’s, giving the
fans a great contest to watch. Sarnia moved the ball well
and again controlled most of the match, but Barrie was
certainly not going down without a fight and kept the match
close throughout. Spirited play on both ends led to goals
for both teams, with #12 Maria Vani scoring for Sarnia.
With the game tied, both teams were looking for a break, and
in the later stages of the 2nd half, Barrie’s
wish came true when a controversial call for a hand ball
within Sarnia’s box led to a Barrie penalty kick. Barrie
took full advantage of the scenario and took the 2-1 lead.
The Spirit pushed hard for the equalizer, but eventually ran
out of time. The final score had Barrie in front by a 2-1
margin. Sarnia did deserve a better result than this;
however, they were through to the Semi-Finals and needed to
shake off the loss and focus on their next opponent. Player
of the Game honours went to #20 Christina Vani as voted by
her team-mates.
Sarnia finished the opening day
in 3rd place for the division, which meant that
they faced the division leading Milton Magic (U-13) in their
Semi-Final match.
Sarnia’s semi-final game was
played at George Richardson Park on Sunday morning. This
was going to be a very tough test for the Spirit as their
opponents, the Milton Magic, had come out of the first day
on top of the division, showcasing a high powered offense
that produced numerous goals in the earlier stages of the
tournament. But with Sarnia’s solid goal-keeping and
defensive core, both fans and players alike knew it would be
a well contested match. Milton came out early with some
impressive ball movement and communication within their
group that gave them an early goal to take a 1-0 lead.
Sarnia did eventually settle back into their style of play
and began to make attempts at gaining ground in Milton’s
end. As the 1st half drew to a close Sarnia
began to take control of the match and seemed destined to
tie it up. And only a few minutes into the 2nd
half, Sarnia’s game tying goal came on a powerful blast from
#8 Emily Sparham on a follow-up to a ball hit into the
area. With the game now tied Sarnia played very aggressive
keeping Milton on the defensive and pinned down in their end
of the pitch. The entire Spirit team kept up the pressure
and worked hard to earn the go ahead goal. But as the game
progressed, exhaustion began to sit in, and while Sarnia was
still playing very well, they were unable to maintain the
same intensity that they had earlier in the half. Milton
took advantage of some broken plays in Sarnia’s end and
scored 2 later goals that gave them the 3-1 victory. Sarnia
played an excellent game and gave further proof to their
increasing talents as a unit. Player of the Game honours
went to #10 Sydnee Mathany and #8 Emily Sparham as voted by
their team-mates.
The Sarnia Spirit finished 3rd
in the 2008 Newmarket Soccer Club All Star Classic that had
them playing against teams in the older U-13 division. The
Spirit matched up well against all opponents and their 3rd
place finish, while not quite what the girls had hoped for,
is an outstanding result. The Sarnia Spirit team was noted
for their exceptional play by all of the opposing teams,
fans, and players alike, and they should be very proud of
how they represented the Sarnia Girls Soccer Club in
top-notch fashion. |
