The 2A girls soccer Regionals were held Saturday Oct 23, 2010 at Sacred Heart High school. Four teams took part in the tournament for a chance to advance to next weekend's provincial tournament in Humboldt.
The tournament began with the Yorkton Regional High School playing a very strong squad from Saskatoon Bishop Mahoney. Mahoney came out on top with a 14-0 win.
Yorkton Regional was playing the game without several starters.
Sacred Heart then took centre stage and played a hard fought game against Humboldt. They defeated Humboldt 1-0 on a goal scored in overtime by Kaylee Ford.
The shutout was recorded by Raquel Hackman. Both teams played very well. The win advanced the Saints to the regional final against Bishop Mahoney just 50 minutes later. The Saints played back to back matches which is extremely difficult in soccer.
They gave it their best shot but came up on the losing end of a 7-1 score. Brooklynn Lechman scored the lone goal for the Saints.
The Saints have had a good year posting a 11-4 win loss record, scoring 50 goals and having 23 against. They finished second at regionals which is usually good enough to advance the team to provincials but because the provincial tournament is hosted in Humboldt, the Humboldt team gets an automatic bye to the tournament. This is most unfortunate for the Saints as the only 2A girls soccer team that has defeated them or finished a tournament higher this year is Saskatoon Mahoney.
The Saints coaching staff feel that their team is one of the top 2A girls teams in the province but will not get the chance to prove it. This is the second year in a row that the Saints have had the provincial host in their region. Last year they lost the regional final to the eventual provincial winners and were not able to go to provincials because of the host situation.
Coaches Jeanne Fetsch and Laura Dean are very proud of the girls' effort and attitude. They have learned to win and lose with equal grace. They look forward to working with the girls next season and wish the best to the three graduating players, Katie Woitas, Brooklynn Lechman, and Jacey Hull.
According to coach Dean, the players on this year's squad got to know each other very well, and that only helped their on-field chemistry.
"I have been most impressed with the progress that has been made by both veterans and rookies. Every person on the team has improved their game this season."
She went on to explain that it was a pleasure to coach them due mostly to the exemplary attitudes they've shown throughout the course of what is a very short season.
"The attitudes of the girls has been phenomenal. They have been enthusiastic, positive, hard-working, and I feel we have been fortunate to have been able to coach them this season. They have learned quickly and have been very "coachable".
They came together as a team and supported each other and looked out for each other on the pitch and off. They celebrated each other's successes, which is the mark of a great "team," she added.
We are so excited to see what this team will do in the future as we are only graduating three players. Those graduating players have left big shoes to fill, but the remaining players are hugely capable of great success next year.
Individual stats to note:
Rita Fetsch had a remarkable rookie season scoring 28 goals, Raquel Hackman also had a solid season as keeper recording 9 shut outs
