Woolwich U16 girls taste victory
Winning the tournament of Champions earned team the Quebec-Ontario Cup
COMPETING FOR THE QUEBEC-ONTARIO Cup, the U16 Woolwich Youth Soccer Wolfpack emerged victorious against Quebec.
Having won the Tournament of Champions in three games, the team went on to Montreal last month to face off against Quebec’s best.
“The Tournament of Champions is the tournament you have to win to get to the Quebec-Ontario Cup,” explained team manager John Tsilogianis. “We played very well in the Tournament of Champions. We won two games and tied one. We worked off our loss to Saltfleet in the Ontario Cup and worked hard for this win.”
The team took home the Quebec-Ontario Cup in two games, winning both. Tsilogianis says it wasn’t easy, however.
“The first game was in a torrential rainfall, so it wasn’t a very good experience, but we battled through,” he said. “The second game was a lot more vigorous. The girls on the other team were a bit more aggressive after losing the day before, so it was a very chippy game.”
Despite the opposition’s aggressive play, the U16 Wolfpack didn’t let the ball get past them.
“For the girls, they were really, really happy. We beat them by two goals on Saturday and it was a squeaker on Sunday,” said head coach Aldo Krajcar. “The girls were ecstatic. They were really, really happy.”
Krajcar credits the girls’ dedication to the sport for their success in Montreal.
“They are committed. We practice four times a week when they are in school, and in the summertime when they are not in school, we practice six or seven times a week,” he shared. “We practice like that before an important game. The parents are committed, the girls are committed and the coaching staff is committed. We all enjoy it. My wife jokes that I love soccer more than her. I don’t, though.”
For some of the U16 players, it was their last season with the team, and Tsoligianis says it was a great way for them to go out.
“It was also the last game that we played as that team before the new team was formed for this coming season. It was bittersweet for some of them, being their last game. It was their goodbye,” he said, adding that the experience was a unique one for the team. “It was something new that we have never been to. It was good for the girls to experience soccer in a different province, how they play soccer and that type of thing. It is exciting any time you get to go away and participate in something so huge.”