The Lake City Falcons girls soccer teams hosted their second annual play day May 1-2.
Teams from both Columneetza and Williams Lake campuses squared off against a junior and a senior team from Fort St. James, as well as 100 Mile House’s Peter Skene Ogden.
Unlike last year which saw teams battling it out on the pitch through a snow storm on the tournament’s first day, this year featured blue skies and warm weather.
The Falcons’ senior girls finished the tournament undefeated with wins over Columneetza, PSO and Fort St. James junior team. The club played to a tie with FSJ’s seniors.
Coach Caitlin Sabatino said it was a great opportunity to get some games under the team’s belt.
“It’s really nice to be able to get some of the northern teams together in a scenario like this,” she said. “Normally, all of us are travelling so far to attend tournaments. Although there were more younger teams this year it was great to practice our touches and get a chance to play in front of hometown fans.”
After previously beating the PSO Eagles seniors in 100 Mile in April, the PSO team of juniors mixed with seniors gave the Falcons a run for their money during the play day.
“The 5-0 score didn’t reflect the play. We just got luckier on our shots,” Sabatino said.
The Falcons then went on to tie FSJ 1-1, before beating their junior team in a sportsmanlike and tactical game.
The juniors, coached by Jodie Mason and Nicole Therrien, started their tournament with a 3-1 win over the FSJ juniors. They then fell to PSO, 3-0, before falling just short versus the FSJ seniors.
In the team’s last game, facing off against their own senior squad, the team battled to a 1-0 defeat.
“I really appreciated the senior girls,” Mason said. “They were great role models and the juniors look up to them.”
The play day was one of two times local teams were able to play competitive games this season outside a trip to 100 Mile House in April.
“Unfortunately, the longtime running junior and senior tournament we usually attend in Summerland was postponed for the year and the senior team had to pull out of a Chilliwack tournament due to lack of commitment,” Sabatino said.
The Falcons’ senior girls have qualified for the ‘AAA’ provincial championships in Victoria May 28-30, but Sabatino said due to the distance and cost associated with travelling to Vancouver Island the team is unsure whether it will be able to attend.
“It’s unfortunate financial constraints inhibit our team’s ability to play in more tournaments,” she said. “It really is too expensive to travel to many of the Lower Mainland tournaments.
“Hopefully next season we will be able to entice more teams from surrounding areas in advance to have a larger, more competitive tournament here in town.”