The Blue Jags were busy across the Island and on the mainland last week, Sept. 21-27, with Senior Boys Soccer placing fourth at the ISAA Tournament and Competitive Field Hockey tying for third at the John Ferreira Memorial Tournament. Cross Country runners earned four ribbons in their first league meet, while volleyball teams opened league play and the Senior Boys picked up two tournament wins.
Senior Boys Soccer
The SMUS Senior Boys Soccer team earned a fourth-place finish in the Independent Schools Athletic Association (ISAA) Tournament hosted by SMUS this past weekend.
The Blue Jags went undefeated in their three preliminary pool games on Friday, beating Glenlyon Norfolk School 4-1, West Point Grey Academy 5-1, and Shawnigan Lake School 3-0.
Alex MacKay scored twice against GNS with singles coming from Josh Hobbs and Milann Wenham. Wenham and Hobbs each contributed a goal against West Point Grey as did Manu Achuthan, Will Hamilton, and Seb Ely. Achuthan, Andrei Marti, and Vlad Gaidelis tallied for SMUS against Shawnigan, while Steffen Wang recorded the clean sheet in goal.
The Blue Jags did not fare quite as well on Saturday’s final day of the tournament, however. In its last pool game, SMUS fell 6-2 to Collingwood. Achuthan score both goals for the Jags in the loss.
That result left SMUS second in Pool A and moved the Blue Jags into the bronze-medal match against Brentwood College on Saturday afternoon. Both teams played their benches liberally in that game, as Brentwood emerged with a 2-1 win. Marcus Bellows scored the lone goal for SMUS.
The Senior Boys will play two Lower Island exhibition games this week, hosting Reynolds on Tuesday and travelling to Oak Bay on Thursday. Both those games will begin at 3:45 pm.
Junior Boys Soccer
The SMUS Junior Boys ‘B’ Soccer team began its Lower Island Tier 2 league season last Wednesday with a 9-2 road loss to Stelly’s ‘A’. Dev Wirk, on an impressive header off a corner, and Kevin Hernandez Chavez, who deftly scooped the ball over the keeper, accounted for the Blue Jags’ scoring.
“We are one of only two ‘B’ teams in the league and this was our first game, where we sorted out positions,” said SMUS Coach Gregor Klenz. “The score doesn’t reflect the balance of play . . . The boys supported each other, and most players got out on the field to see action.”
The SMUS ‘B’ team will see its next league action Oct. 5 at Vic High and will also play Oct. 7 at GNS.
Meanwhile, the SMUS Junior ‘A’ team will open its Lower Island season on Oct. 5 at Lambrick Park before hosting Claremont on Oct. 7.
Competitive Field Hockey
It was a busy week for the SMUS Competitive Field Hockey team as it went undefeated in its first two Lower Island league games of the season before tying for third-place in the John Ferreira Memorial Tournament held over the weekend at Shawnigan Lake and Duncan.
The Blue Jags opened their season with a scoreless road draw at GNS last Monday. Lauren Arndt, filling in for a sick teammate, earned the shutout in goal for SMUS, which was missing a number of players due to school out-trips.
SMUS followed that up with a 6-1 victory over Claremont on Wednesday at UVic. Elspeth Rodger scored three times for the Blue Jags in the win while Anna Beaudry had two and Olive Winter one.
SMUS opened the annual Ferreira tournament with a competitive 2-0 loss to host Shawnigan Lake on Friday morning. Arndt was again pressed into goaltending duties and played well. SMUS had its offensive chances, including two early penalty corner opportunities – both of which were saved by the Shawnigan keeper.
“Overall, it was a good effort with lots of learning,” said SMUS Head Coach Ali Baggott. “The speed was really high for the newer girls but we are just finding our way and know that the season is short but the learning is fast.”
It its second game of the tournament on Friday, SMUS beat Queen Margaret’s 2-0. Beaudry scored on a straight shot off a penalty corner in the first half and Winter tallied in the second half. “The girls played with really good structure and Talia Klenz was excellent on defence for us,” Baggott said.
That result moved the Blue Jags into the tournament semifinal on Saturday morning, where they fell 4-0 to a talented Quw’utsun team at the Cowichan Sportsplex. The Blue Jags had some good offensive opportunities in the loss but were on the defensive for the majority of the game.
SMUS played to a 2-2 draw with Brentwood College in the third-place game on Saturday afternoon. Winter and Piper Geddes scored for the Blue Jags. “It was a very evenly matched game and it's great to see Olive and Piper getting on the scoreboard,” said SMUS Assistant Coach Georgia Booker.
The Competitive team will have a rematch against GNS this Monday at UVic, beginning at 3:30 pm. The team will also travel to Crofton House for the ISAA Tournament starting on Friday.
Development Field Hockey
The SMUS Development Field Hockey team earned its first win of the Lower Island season last Wednesday, beating Oak Bay-2 by a 4-0 margin.
Eleanore Fairhurst led the way with a goal and two assists for the Blue Jags. Nina Trinder, Lola Wuth, and Victoria Arneja added single goals.
The Development team opened its season with a 2-2 draw at GNS-2 last Monday. Wuth tallied both SMUS goals with assists coming from Trinder and Sadie Arnold.
The Jags will meet Reynolds at 4:30 pm Monday at UVic in their next Lower Island game.
Cross Country
The SMUS Cross Country team also began its Lower Island season last week, with Blue Jag runners earning four ribbons in Wednesday’s first meet of the fall at Lambrick Park.
Reese Trumpy finished sixth in the four-kilometre Junior Girls race while Natalie DiFelice-Oinonen was eighth. SMUS teammate Rachel Oliver placed 14th in the five-kilometre Senior Girls race. Rhys Beare of SMUS finished ninth in the four-kilometre Junior Boys event.
The next league meet goes Thursday at Cedar Hill.
Senior Boys Volleyball
The Senior Boys Volleyball team won two of its three matches on Saturday to place 15th out of 20 teams in the Trinity Western University tournament at the Langley Events Centre.
After going winless on Friday in pool matches against Langley Fundamental, Credo Christian, and Surrey Christian, the Blue Jags bounced back on the final day of the tournament.
In Saturday’s action, SMUS lost a close match to GW Graham (25-15, 23-25, 9-15) and beat both White Rock Christian Academy (25-20, 25-21) and Cariboo Hill (25-21, 25-16).
The Senior Boys will play a four-team Lower Island league series at Royal Bay this Monday – with Belmont, Vic High, and the host school – beginning at 6 pm.
The Blue Jags will also host a tournament this Friday and Saturday including a number of teams from the Island and Lower Mainland.
Senior Girls Volleyball
The SMUS Senior Girls Volleyball team split a pair of matches at Glenlyon Norfolk School as the Lower Island season began last Tuesday.
The Blue Jags dispatched Brookes Westshore 25-9, 25-12 in their first match before falling to host GNS 25-27, 24-26 in a hotly contested nightcap.
SMUS will play host to a Lower Island league series this Tuesday, beginning at 6 pm and including Oak Bay, Edward Milne, and Esquimalt.
The Senior Girls will also compete in the Vancouver Island University tournament this Friday and Saturday in Nanaimo.
Junior Girls Volleyball
The SMUS Junior ‘A’ Girls Volleyball team began its Lower Island season with a three-team series last Thursday at Royal Bay.
The Blue Jags dropped both sets to each of Edward Milne and the host school, but Coach Jake Insley said there was “lots to build on, and [it was] a promising start for a new group finding its rhythm together.”
Grace Crawford had a great day for SMUS playing on the left side, passing and attacking well.
The SMUS Junior ‘B’ team will begin its Lower Island season by hosting a four-team series this Monday with visiting teams from Oak Bay, GNS, and Vic High. Play begins at 4 pm.
The SMUS Junior ‘A’ and Junior ‘B’ Girls teams will both play in the Camosun tournament this Friday and Saturday.
Rugby
Five SMUS students helped the Castaway Wanderers capture the U14 Boys title at the Kamloops 7s rugby tournament held Sept. 19 and 20 at McArthur Island Park.
Grade 8s Elijah Sinclair-Lingard, Keane Hayes, and Elliot Daum were part of the CW side as were Grade 7s Charlie Campsall and Brendan Engels.
Their team won all its games, beating Kamloops, Comox, and Langley in pool play. CW defeated Salish in the semifinal before edging James Bay 17-12 in overtime in the gold medal match. SMUS Grade 7 student Arlo Brown played on the James Bay team.
Middle School Soccer
The U14 girls soccer team made up of Grade 6-8 students are off to Nova Scotia this week as King's-Edgehill School hosts the CAIS Girls Soccer tournament. SMUS is in a pool with Bishop Strachan, Havergal College, Halifax Grammar School and St. John's-Ravenscourt School. Competition begins on Oct. 1 with games at 10:15 am and 1:00 pm followed by Oct. 2 games at 9:00 am and 11:30 am Atlantic Time. Should SMUS qualify for the medal rounds the final is at 12:30 pm on Oct. 3. Coaches Jackie Cunningham and Catherine Cade are leading the team.
The Grade 6-7 boys soccer team is headed to Vancouver for their CAIS soccer competition on Oct. 13-16. The event is hosted by Collingwood School but held at Burnaby Lake Sportsplex turf fields. Coaches Mike Danskin, Graeme Hyde-Lay and Jackie Cunningham will lead that group.
