SMUS spring teams were back in action this week with strong performances across the soccer pitch and rugby field. The Senior Girls soccer squad opened their Lower Island Division 1 season with two impressive home victories, while the Junior Girls continued league play ahead of the break. On the rugby side, the Senior and Junior Boys faced Oak Bay in the annual Rees Boot rivalry match to highlight a busy week of competition for the Blue Jags.
Senior Girls Soccer
The SMUS Senior Girls Soccer team got its season off to a terrific start this past week with Grade 11 Elspeth Rodger scoring twice in both of the Blue Jags’ two Lower Island Division 1 home victories.
Mackenna Brown added a goal to Rodger’s pair of markers to help the Blue Jags to a 3-1 win over visiting Esquimalt on Tuesday.
On Thursday, Indigo Edgington recorded the shutout in goal as SMUS blanked visiting Claremont 4-0. In addition to Rodger’s two goals, Brown and Kate McQueen scored for the Jags.
The SMUS Seniors will resume league play with games April 7 at Royal Bay and April 9 at Spectrum.
Junior Girls Soccer
Heading into spring break, the SMUS Junior Girls Soccer team has a 1-2 record in Lower Island league play.
After winning their first league game on March 5 at Belmont, the Blue Jags fell 2-0 to visiting Royal Bay last Monday before dropping a 3-1 road decision to Reynolds on Thursday. Clara Pressello scored the lone goal for the Juniors in the second game.
The Junior Jags will see their next league action on April 7 against Esquimalt and April 9 against Vic High. Both games will be played at SMUS.
Senior Boys Rugby
The SMUS Senior Boys Rugby squad travelled to Oak Bay last Tuesday for the Rees Boot Game, the annual clash between two longtime Lower Island high school rivals. Oak Bay retained the Boot in this year’s Senior contest with a 46-19 win.
Declan Longridge, Alexander Zabaneh, and Santiago Flores La Salvia scored tries in the loss for SMUS, which trailed 22-0 in the match before scoring its first points. Liam Whiteside added a pair of conversions for the Jags.
“Santiago was our man of the match in the forwards, leading the charge all day,” said SMUS Coach Oliver Nott. “Alex had a noteworthy game, scoring his first try for SMUS and putting in some big defensive tackles. Declan Longridge was dangerous with ball in hand and played well to get us on the front foot.”
Junior Boys Rugby
In the Junior match that opened last Tuesday afternoon’s rugby action at Oak Bay, the host school also prevailed, beating the Junior Blue Jags 36-19.
Finley Brown scored a try and added a pair of conversions for SMUS in the loss, while Graeme Shanks and Bruno Chen had single tries. The SMUS Juniors played well before fading in the late going.
