The Highland Secondary senior girls field hockey team travelled to Duncan this past weekend to participate in the 12th annual Friendship Cup Tournament, co-hosted by Brentwood College School and Shawnigan Lake School.
Highland nearly had to withdraw from the tournament before it even began, due to lack of players. However, in the true spirit of the Friendship Cup, Highland was able to make friends with six new players from Shawnigan Lake’s Junior squad who enthusiastically joined their team for the two-day tournament.
Despite the blended team meeting each other only minutes before the first match, the girls came together quickly as a unit and were able to tie Lambrick Park Secondary 1-1, thanks to an early goal from Lauren Geneau. The next match was against a skilled Cowichan Secondary team, in which Highland suffered their only loss of the tournament, 2-0. Taylor Ruest did a great job in that game, covering the mid-field in both attacking and defensive roles.
The following day, Highland met a strong Brentwood College squad in the first cross-pool game. Both teams played hard the whole game, finishing in a 0-0 draw. Highland demonstrated a great effort overall, especially from the solid defensive line of Pragya Dawadi, Priya Dawadi, Rachel McMahon and Danielle Rudy.
Highland saved their best offensive effort for last in their game against Queen Margaret’s school, winning a convincing 6-0 with Paisley Hafley and Geneau each scoring two goals. Sarita Serafina, the standout goal keeper, recorded her second shut-out of the tournament.
Coaches Colleen Schmidt and Gregg Moore were thrilled with the teamwork the girls displayed and were so impressed they could keep up with the fast pace of the game as played on artificial turf. Coach Schmidt said, “Since there is no artificial turf in the Comox Valley, it is so important that the girls take advantage of any opportunity to travel to play on turf to refine their individual stick skills and practise precision passing.”
Field hockey is played year round in the Comox Valley (indoors and outdoors), with opportunities available for girls, boys, teens and adults by contacting cvfhl@hotmail.com.