Posted: Mar 07, 2017
Submitted by Head Coach, Paul Stone
The Vikings Women's soccer teamed traveled to Ambrose to compete in the ACAC Futsal Championships on the weekend of Mar 3-5. They came back with more than just a weekend experience of competition. They came back with a silver medal around their necks. 5 minutes away from the gold medal and knocking off the Med Hat Rattlers who have won the competition for 3 years running.
We had Keyano, Lakeland, and Kings in our group. Top 2 teams advanced to the semi final. First game was against Keyano Huskies and the ladies came away with a convincing 8-2 win.
Goals:
Lakeland were up next on Saturday morning and from the get go, the Vikings were all over them. The score was 7-0 at the half and the ladies coasted to a 9-1 victory. Ashley Chaput made some key saves in the first half and was solid throughout the tournament.
Goals:
Emily Mason and Shannon Kavanagh each had 1.
We played Kings for first place overall in the afternoon. Fatigue was setting in on the Vikings ladies and Kings were playing their first game of the day. The Vikings built a 4-2 lead and hung on for a 4-3 victory. It was an important win as they avoided having to play 3 time champion Medicine Hat in the semi finals.
Goals:
The host team Ambrose were the Vikings opponent for the semi final game on Sunday morning. Medicine Hat had just beat Lakeland and were waiting the winner of this game. The stands were full, but unfortunately they were cheering for Ambrose. We had a few parents cheering for us from the stands.
Ambrose were a very good team. They had a few very dangerous players. Our girls were banged up. Trainer Meagan Stachnik was busy, and fatigue was certainly setting in. We had to play a lot more patient than we had been. The game ended up tied 4-4 with the Vikings scoring very late in the game to tie it up. 2 - 5 minute halves of OT to decide who faces the snakes from Med Hat. Shannon Kavanagh scored the winner in the second half of OT and GK Ashley Chaput put the icing on the cake to make it 6-4. Not only did Ashley come up with some HUGE saves to keep Augustana in the game, she also scored.
Goals:
The game against Med Hat was one to remember. We had the crowd on our side. The Augustana Vikings had won the hearts of a lot of teams. I don't think these ladies will ever forget the experience of playing in an ACAC final. We took a 2-0 lead with goals from Tara Berger and Laura Graham into the 2nd half and that's when things started to go against our ladies. Med Hat scored early to make it 2-1 on a good goal. A very questionable Penalty Kick was awarded to Med Hat made it 2-2. It was tied at that score until 5 mins remaining when the eventual champions squeaked in a winning goal. Heartbreak all around. Our girls battled hard with what little they had left in the tank. It's never easy to win a 3 day tournament, and play 5 games in those 3 days. It's hard on the body, and especially with some injuries to key players, we were down to 7 outfield players. These girls learned how to battle for each other. They also took a step to learning how to win, which is not easy in the North division during the outdoor season.
We didn't lose gold, we won the silver medal and put the University of Alberta - Augustana soccer program on the map. Tara Berger and Laura Graham played like captains should and put this team on their backs and almost carried us across the finish line. Every single girl on the team stepped up and sacrificed for the betterment of the team. The school should be proud of these athletes. I'm hoping they all learned something from this and can return next fall with some hunger.