Seven youth soccer teams from Terrace travelled down south earlier this month to have their shot in provincial competitions.
The under-18 girls team won bronze and U16 and U14 girls both finished sixth. The U18 boys finished eighth, U16 fifth, U15 eighth and U14 sixth from the Terrace Youth Soccer Association.
The U18 girls team earned their provincial bronze in Penticton with three wins and one loss.
Their first game was against Nelson July 7, where they lost 5-1. Coach Sean Bujtas said the girls “came into this game very slow and seemed to still be affected by travel (a 14 hour drive).” Their only goal was scored by right midfielder Paige Payne, who got the ball from Robin Price. ia a nice header.
Their second game was 3-1 win against Saanich Fusion. Six minutes into the game striker Jenna Hoornenborg came down the left and sent the ball across to Hanna Jay who deflected it into the net. 10 minutes later Saanich tied up the game, which continued back and forth for the rest of the half. Ten minutes into the second half, striker Chantal Gammie collected a short goal kick by the Sannich keeper, crossed it over to Hoornenborg who took one step into the 18 and sent the ball into the back of the net, making the game 2-1. Down to the last minute of the game, Terrace edged out one more goal: Hoornenborg came in on the left and shot the ball off the crossbar, but Gammie picked up the rebound landed a final goal.
In game three, Terrace faced Kelowna United and dominated 7-0. Coach Bujtas said they came into the game still on a high from the last win and “quickly got to work.” Just three minutes in, Hoornenberg fended off foul from a Kelowna defender and knocked the ball to Payne near the 18 yard line, who launched it into the net over the keeper’s head.
By halftime Terrace was up 4-0 with three more goals scored by Payne, Hoornenborg and Gammie. Terrace came in hard again in the second half, with Cassy Broughton, Hoornenborg and Gammie all scoring. That gave the girls a 7-1 win and put them second in the round robin, lined up for the bronze medal game.
Coach Bujtas said that “as much as Terrace’s offence exploded in the Saanich and Kelowna games, it was in part due to sound defending and goal keeping. The defensive line of Emma Kenmuir, Anke de Wit, Ashlee Wojnaroski, Jewel Hall and Hailey Mitchell kept the ball out of Terraces end and if they didn’t, goal keeper Alex Bujtas came through with big saves when they needed it,” Bujtas said.
The bronze medal game was against Surrey FC, and the first half was back and forth ending 1-1. Only two minutes into the second half, Surrey scored, but Terrace managed to tie it up shortly after.
With about 15 minutes left in the game, Bujtas describes an intense close call: Surrey got a breakaway Terrace goal keeper Bujtas “came charging out at the striker... the striker shot the ball and Bujtas leaped and deflected the ball out, but unfortunately it went to a trailing Surrey striker,” Bujtas said. The striker fired the ball on net, but by that time Terrace midfielder Hanna Jay had tracked back and was on the goal line. “In nothing short of brilliance, she headed the ball out of harms way,” Bujtas said.
The game continued and a few minutes later midfielder Tori Mager sent the ball to Gammie in the deep right corner, who then passed the ball through the air in front of the net. Hoornenborg dove in from the left and headed the ball up and into the net, putting Terrace up 3 - 2. After that Terrace scored four more goals (from Gammie, Jay and two from Payne) and secured the bronze medal with a final 7-2 win.
Bujtas added that strong play from midfields Deb Wraight, Tori Mager, Hanna Jay, Robin Price and Cassy Broughton really made the offensive job easy.
The U14 boys got sixth place in their provincials, losing their first two games against Surrey (0-8) and Kelowna (1-6) , dominating their third game against Williams Lake (3-0), but losing their last game against Juan de Fuca (0-4).
The U16 boys from Terrace won two games and lost two at provincials, earning fifth overall.