The Huntsville Hoyas senior girls soccer team have demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity throughout the 2017 season. Despite losing several star players to injury during a preseason tournament, the girls have bounced back to a 2-1-1 league record (and 5-1-1 overall), and are rounding into form ahead of the Muskoka Parry Sound Championship today.
The injury bug bit Huntsville early this spring, as the team saw their starting striker go off in the MPS invitational opening tournament with strained ankle ligaments. The same day, keeper Joey Currie suffered a broken hand with less than five minutes to play when she was kicked while holding the ball by an opposing player. Despite the injuries, the girls played solid defence to win all three games by a 1-0 score over Almaguin, Bracebridge and Parry Sound.
The team would be further shorthanded when several starters were unable to attend their first league game, a 4-0 upset loss to Bracebridge.
“Bracebridge played a quick offensive game and continued to snap through our 10 players to reach the net winning a well executed game,” said head coach John Cowan. “For the senior girls, there was a lot taken for granted after two previous years of success and a successful opening day tournament.”
Players and coaches held a team meeting to regroup and reflect on the loss, and stormed out to play a flawless opening 60 minutes against Almaguin during which they built a 5-0 lead. Using the remaining 20 minutes to practice their control and playmaking, the Hoyas were in top shape to repeat their performance in a 5-0 win over Gravenhurst the following week. Robyn Goodwin found the back of the net twice, while Peyton Burmeister, Nicole Banks and Randi Deline also hit the scoresheet.
In their most recent match, the girls refused to give any ground to the Parry Sound Panthers, playing a hard fought game that ended in a 1-1 tie. Mia Smyth scored the only goal with the assist from Emma Mensour.
“I believe we have enough depth and skills in our keepers to give us the support for the team to focus on the process of the game,” said Cowan. “The girls are prepared and are looking forward to the MPS Championships.”
The full Hoyas roster is as follows:
Andrea Alldred
Nicole Banks
Peyton Burmeister
Leslie Cameron
Joey Currie
Randi Deline
Sheerise Dube
Riley Giles
Robyn Goodwin
Mary MacMillan
Emma Mensour
Kyra Meredith
Tullsi Midgley-Clarke
Urvi Patel
Madi Smrtka
Amanda Steel-Coke
Sydney Stevens
Lauren Valliere
Madelyn Zylstra
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June Banks says
Great going girls, GOOD LUCK