The second week of Senior School athletics brought plenty of highlights across multiple sports. The Senior Boys Soccer team captured the ISAA tournament title in dramatic fashion, while the Junior Boys battled to a 1-1 draw with Royal Bay in their league opener. Senior Girls Field Hockey posted two wins to start their league season, and the Senior Girls Volleyball team finished sixth out of 16 at the Spikes and Aces tournament. Meanwhile, Senior Boys Volleyball gained valuable experience at the Trinity Western University tournament, and the cross-country season kicked off with strong showings from SMUS runners at Lambrick Park.
Senior Boys Soccer
The SMUS Senior Boys Soccer team came through with a total team effort to capture the Independent Schools Athletic Association (ISAA) tournament title in dramatic fashion this past weekend.
The Blue Jags went 4-1 over five games in the 10-team tournament, including a tense victory over St. George’s on penalty kicks after the two teams had played to a scoreless tie through regulation.
In that critical round of penalties, SMUS goalkeeper Rayan Shariaty stopped three Saints shooters and then scored the winning kick himself to clinch the championship for the Jags.
Shariaty was a factor all game, as he made a number of key stops during regulation as well. However, it was truly a team win as the Blue Jags played five games in less than 32 hours, battling injury and fatigue to wind up on top.
“The outcome this weekend was the result of a group of boys who showed the best mentality at the tournament,” said SMUS Head Coach Shaun Foster. “They showed flexibility in adapting to new systems of play in the later matches of the tournament, with very little time on the training pitch to work on them. Most players had to adapt and play different roles due to fatigue and injury. They worked so hard for each other off the ball, supporting in possession and maintaining shape when out of it.”
The Blue Jags had to play three games on Friday to open the tournament, beginning with a 2-1 win over Aberdeen Hall in the morning. Manu Achuthan and Josh Hobbs scored in that win for SMUS, which overcame an early 1-0 deficit. The Jags were a bit frustrated in their second game, losing 2-0 to West Point Grey Academy despite having a number of good scoring chances. Although the coaches felt the team’s third game against Shawnigan Lake School was a sloppy effort, the Blue Jags still emerged on top 3-0.
SMUS needed a 3-2 victory over Collingwood on Saturday morning to advance to the final, getting goals from Achuthan, Alex Zabaneh and Milann Wenham, the latter with the decisive marker. In addition to Shariaty, Achuthan, Wenham, and Zabaneh also scored in the shootout against St. George’s.
“If we were asked to list every player who made a significant impact for us, we would just give you the full team sheet,” Foster said. “They all deserve the credit. They are already coming together so well as a group, that if any one player were given individual accolades, I'm sure their first reaction would be to share it with the group. That mentality and work rate is the identity of this squad.”
SMUS also kicked off its Lower Island Tier 1 league season on Thursday with a solid performance in a 1-1 draw with visiting Oak Bay. Hobbs scored on a penalty with about 12 minutes to play to secure the tie for the Jags.
SMUS will see its next action on Tuesday with a league game against Reynolds at Braefoot (3:15 pm) and will also host Claremont in a 3:45 pm game Thursday.
Junior Boys Soccer
The Junior Boys Soccer team recorded a well-earned tie last Wednesday when it travelled to Royal Bay for Lower Island league season-opening action.
The Blue Jags were under pressure most of the first half from the hosts, who benefit from daily training together with Royal Bay’s soccer academy. SMUS goaltender Steffen Wang was outstanding, making several key saves to keep the game scoreless until halftime.
The Jags settled into the game and started producing several chances from the creative play of Avery Mavrikos in the center of the pitch. SMUS broke the deadlock mid-way through the second half with a great solo-effort goal from Alex MacKay. The Blue Jags continued to improve as the game went on, with strong team defence led by Marcus Bellows, as Royal Bay pushed for the equalizer, even hitting the post on a penalty shot.
With five minutes remaining, Royal Bay tied the game with a free kick from just outside the box, and the game ended 1-1.
“It was an intense and high-paced first game,” said SMUS Head Coach Kevin Mennie. “MVP for this match goes to Steffen in goal. We look ahead to games next week with the first home game vs. Reynolds.”
The Junior Jags will travel to Claremont for a league game on Tuesday, beginning at 3:15 pm. On Wednesday, SMUS will host Reynolds in a 3:45 pm start. The team will also play in the ISAA Junior Boys tournament this Friday and Saturday at Brentwood College.
Senior Girls Field Hockey
The SMUS 1 Competitive Field Hockey team started Lower Island league play last week with two wins against Lambrick Park (6-0) and Oak Bay 2 (5-2), respectively. Both opponents were certainly weaker than the Blue Jags’ Competitive team, even though the SMUS Grade 11s were away on out-trips. Mackenna Brown scored twice against Lambrick Park while Manon Denux, Valentia Szuroka, Farah Sinclair, and Piper Geddes had singles. Scoring against Oak Bay 2 were Sinclair and Szuroka, with two apiece, and Olive Winters.
This week, the Blue Jags will see stronger opponents in Glenlyon-Norfolk on Monday and Oak Bay 1 on Wednesday. The SMUS 1 team will then look to defend the trophy it won last year on the weekend at the Ferreira Cup in Duncan.
“Fortunately, with the Grade 11s back, we will be able to field our full team,” said Head Coach David Kerr.
The SMUS 2 team also started off league play last week in the seven-a-side league, with a victory against St. Andrew’s last Monday and a close loss against Oak Bay 1 on Wednesday. This week in the league, SMUS 2 plays GNS 2 on Monday and Lambrick Park on Wednesday. The SMUS 2 team will also welcome back its Grade 11s, who make up over half the lineup.
Senior Girls Volleyball
The SMUS Senior Girls finished sixth out of 16 teams as the annual Spikes and Aces tournament concluded on Saturday at Spectrum.
The Blue Jags, who finished second in their preliminary pool on Friday, lost their crossover match with Crofton House (21-25, 8-25) on Saturday. They then defeated Pacific Christian (25-22, 25-20) before falling in three to Reynolds (23-25, 25-23, 7-15).
SMUS opened preliminary play on Friday with a close three-game loss to Lambrick Park (18-25, 25-23, 11-15) before beating both Burnaby South (25-15, 25-20) and Shawnigan Lake School (25-18, 26-24).
“Lots of exciting volleyball came from the team’s first time together as a full squad,” said Head Coach Melanie Bendfeld. “Crystal Cai and Maggie Stiel set some excellent matches for the team while Nicola Bevington was a major offensive threat on the left side and Mikaela Dubé a solid blocker in the middle.”
The Blue Jags will play a Lower Island league round robin on Tuesday at Mount Douglas, against the host school and Lambrick Park, beginning at 6 p.m. The team will also compete in the 28-team Vancouver Island University tournament on Friday and Saturday in Nanaimo.
Senior Boys Volleyball
The Senior Boys Volleyball team placed 13th out of 20 teams at the Trinity Western University tournament in Langley over the weekend.
The Blue Jags won one of their three matches on Friday as the tournament opened with pool play. Placed in a highly competitive pool, the Blue Jags opened with a close, two-game loss to defending BC A champion Credo Christian. They also lost 2-0 to Pacific Academy but took third place in their pool with a 2-0 win over Unity Christian.
In their first match on Saturday, the Jags defeated Port Moody 2-0 before ending the tournament with a 2-1 loss to John Knox Christian.
This week, SMUS will take part in a Lower Island league four-team round robin on Wednesday at Belmont, starting at 6 p.m., before competing in a tournament at Spectrum on Friday and Saturday.
Cross Country
Three SMUS Junior Girls were among six runners from the school who finished within the top 20 competitors in their respective races as the Lower Island Cross Country season began last Thursday at Lambrick Park.
Piper Geddes placed 10th over the four-kilometre Junior Girls course in 15:44 while teammate Ella Buckley was 11th in 15:45 and Natalie Difelice-Oinonen of SMUS finished 16th in 16:04. In the Junior Boys four-kilometre event, Pascal Krawez of SMUS was 14th in 14:00. Blue Jag runner Rina Chida placed 13th in the Senior Girls five-kilometre race in 22:06. Michael Carpiano of SMUS was 19th in the Senior Boys five-kilometre race in 18:38.
“It was a good initial race by everyone,” said SMUS Head Coach Jeff Hunt. “Some runners were learning exactly how far the distance is, so hopefully we will have a better idea how to pace the distance better [this week].”
The next Lower Island race is this Wednesday at the University of Victoria.
