U13 Strikers Win Gold
The Chatham U13 Strikers championship team – Contributed Photo
The Strikers lost to St Catharines 2-0, and defeated Scarborough 5-0 (Anna Trinca x2, Camille Blain x2, Sophie Maine,) and Stratford 1-0 (Brooke Macleod), to finish second in their pool. They faced Norwest London in the semifinal. The Strikers took an early lead in the first half on a goal from Olivia Hunter, with Norwest tying the game in the second half. The Strikers appeared to have won the game on a second goal by Hunter with only a few minutes to spare in the second half. But Norwest found a way to tie the game with only seconds remaining to send the game to a shootout.
Chatham missed their second shot in the shootout, and Jaiden Rollings made a save on Norwest’s fifth shot to keep the teams equal after five shooters. The next shooters scored for both teams, then Norwest went wide on their seventh shot. For the win, Brooke MacLeod slammed her shot into the back of the net and Chatham advanced to the final.
Chatham faced St. Catharines in the final. Camille Blain scored midway through the second half to give Chatham the lead. St Catharines pressed the injury depleted Strikers hard, but the defense held firm and Chatham went on to win the Championship 1-0.
Pictured Above:
Front row: Olivia Hunter, Jaiden Rollings, Kirby MacKinnon,
2nd row: Courtney Legere, Brooke MacLeod, Camille Blain, Emmi Timmermans, Gabrielle Doey, Abby Mahu,
3rd row: Caoch Peter MacKinnon, Erica Anderson, Carly Belanger, Sophie Maine, Jocelyn Maryschak, Michaela Legue, Coach Neil Anderson.
Absent: Jillian Hyatt, Anna Trinca, Emma Doom