In
the opening game of the five
team round robin, Sarnia faced
off against the St. Thomas
select team. The host team had
been pulled together
specifically for the tournament
and their inexperience showed as
Sarnia dismantled them. In the
15th minute, Candace
Linker passed the ball up the
middle to Sam Lupi who advanced
it to an eager Claudia Font who
was maintaining her on-side
position. Font quickly reeled it
in and notched her first goal of
the season from 19 yards out
with a strong left chip shot
over the outstretched arms of
the St. Thomas keeper. Nine
minutes later, Kadin
Siopidou-D'Andrea took a feed
from Alex Allen and scored on a
weak shot 10 yards to the left
of the netminder when a defender
backed away from the shot to
allow her unsuspecting keeper to
grab it. Sarnia notched another
one shortly after the half time
break when Candace Linker
accepted a long left feed from
Lauren Wilson in the 27th
minute and scored on her own
rebound. Siopidou-D'Andrea
scored her second in the 30th
minute and Wilson helped the
team reach the mercy rule
differential when she scored her
second goal in the 35th. A
surprised Wilson scored on a
shot from 35 yards after Lisa
Harris out ran a St. Thomas
striker to help her keeper
maintain the clean sheet.
Sarnia's second game was more
evenly contested at least in the
first half and Emily Peckham had
to play strong in net to earn
her second shutout. The Ancaster
Titans kept pace but could not
contain Sarnia's passing
game and were it not for
undisciplined play up front, the
score could have been lopsided.
Close to a dozen offside calls
and a 10-minute down pour also
helped to slow the game.
Following a short break, Sarnia
came out strong. Linker sent the
ball wide left to Naomi Parsons
who crossed it to the top of the
6-yard box. The net minder had
it at her feet but stumbled over
the ball and Alex Allen was able
to chip it away before she could
recover. Parsons was charging
and booted it hard to the back
of the net before the half was a
minute old. Ancaster was unable
to muster any kind of threat and
the lone goal was all that was
needed to secure the victory.
Having won the first two games
against previously unplayed
teams, Sarnia knew its remaining
opponents well and needed only a
single point from either game to
move to the final. Having
already outscored Wallaceburg
21-0 over four league games, the
players were confident that they
would beat them again on Sunday
morning. Thus, facing Chatham in
an otherwise meaningless game,
the girls provided a lacklustre
effort and succumbed 3-0 to a
Chatham team that was thrilled
to go home with that victory.
As
expected Sarnia poured it on
against Wallaceburg and a strong
effort from Summer Eastcott in
the Wallaceburg net kept Sarnia
from running up the score. In
the 15th minute a defender took
the goal kick for the keeper but
misplayed it and Sarnia was able
to capitalize. Teighan Chate
pounced on the short ball and
sent it into the middle of the
box where Emily Sparham knocked
it in before Eastcott could
protect it. Sarnia got lucky on
its third attempt of the second
half when the defense failed to
get back and Lupi tapped home an
easy rebound off a Naomi Parsons
shot in the 26th minute.
Siopidou-D'Andrea took a corner
kick from the keeper's right
side in the 46th minute. Lipine
Parsons was able to get
control of the ball inside the
18-yard box but she was tackled
to the ground before she could
take a shot and the
whistle sounded. Coach Craven
entrusted
left-footed Wilson with the task
of putting the game out of
reach on the ensuing
penalty kick and Wilson didn't
disappoint giving the Fury team
the 3-nil victory.
Sarnia met up with Ancaster in
the final and brought their 'A'
game, the same high quality
performance they put together
two weeks earlier to win the
Cambridge tournament. Eight
minutes into the game, Elaine
Larocque fought off a charging
Ancaster forward and regained
possession. She moved the ball
back to Linker who started the
rush. Alex Allen took the feed
and moved it to Lupi who crossed
it to a charging Teighan Chate.
Chate tried to cross it back to
Lupi but it deflected off a
defender and into the net. Three
minutes later, Harris took a
corner kick to the keeper's left
and put it to Amy Bennet who
redirected it to Emily Sparham
at the top of the 18-yard box.
Sparham stepped around one
defender and then chipped it
towards the goal. Chate was
there to head it in as the
keeper tried to grab it and the
Ancaster team never recovered.
Sarnia maintained good ball
possession throughout the
remainder of the game and
capitalized once more in the
43rd minute. Wilson received a
pass from her keeper and sent it
long down the right wing to
Naomi Parsons. Parsons carried
it straight down field to the
goal line and then quickly
reversed course and crossed it
to the top of the 6-yard box
where Font was waiting to put
the icing on another tournament
victory.
