U17 Pinnacle girls perform strongly in provincial play
The U17 Pinnacle girls team smiles after provincial play in North Vancouver.
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Updated: July 07, 2009 1:55 PM
The South Okanagan’s U17 Pinnacle girls capped a fine season at the provincial soccer playoffs in North Vancouver last weekend.
Though they settled for a fifth place finish, they lost only one game all season, were undefeated in the tournament and won a tournament award for fair play.
In the preliminary round-robin play the Pinnacles scored first against Comox Valley when Samantha Murphy scored midway in the first half. Comox were able to tie it up ending the match in a 1-1 tie.
In the second game against Surrey both teams played hard and had a solid defense. It was scoreless until early in the second when Defender Alana Parker made a spectacular end to end run up the sideline, beating several Surrey midfield and defenders. The run was finished perfectly with a cross to forward Samantha Murphy who easily put the ball past the Surrey goalie. Surrey came back strong however and quickly tied it 1-1.
Despite heavy pressure by the Pinnacles late in the second Surrey was able to hold on to the tie. In the last game of round-robin play, Chelsey Beierle put the Pinnacles ahead 1-0 in the first half against Port Coquitlam.
After Pico tied it mid-fielder Carly Stocker scored the winner off her curving corner kick, giving the team a 2-1 victory. Despite their no-loss record the Pinnacles missed medal round play because Surrey and Comox Valley tied their final game against one another.
Since both teams had higher goal differentials against Port Coquitlam than the Pinnacles they moved to the medal round.
Had either team won their match, Penticton would have played for bronze. It was a tough turn of events for the Pinnacles who had only one loss all season.
The Pinnacles finished the tournament in solid fashion with a convincing win against Terrace.
Midfielder Chelsey Beierle put the Pinnacles ahead early with a solid strike from about the 20. Midfielder Kylaina Afonso had numerous chances and broke past the defense and scored from 12 yards out.
Midfielder Kristin Yates put the game out of reach in the second with a hard shot from about 25 yards out.
Terrace were not able to mount much offense and gave the strong Pinnacle defense backed by goalie Alida Wiens a shutout 3-0 victory.
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