Digby U15 girls triumphant in Gunn Baldursson tournament
Tigers defeat Yarmouth 2-0 in semifinal, Halifax team 1-0 in final
It was a great weekend for the Digby Tigers U15 girls, who went undefeated to win the championship of their division at the Gunn Baldursson memorial soccer tournament in the valley.
They captured the title Sunday afternoon with a 1-0 win over the Thunder, a team from Halifax, in the championship game in Wolfville.
The Tigers had advanced to the title match earlier in the day by defeating Yarmouth 2-0.
This followed a busy Saturday that had the Digby squad playing three games, starting with a 1-0 victory over Central (from Sackville), followed by a 1-1 draw with West Hants and then a 1-0 win over County (a Halifax team).
In their five tournament games, the Tigers got goals from Lauren Sollows, Holly Hasselbring, Alexa Custance and Dakota Stewart.
Madison Brown was the Tigers’ goalkeeper.
Digby head coach Amy Theriault said she was very proud of her team.
“I just wanted the girls to play hard,” she said. “I wanted them to represent their club (the Digby Area Soccer Association) and their community the best that I knew that they could, and they The Digby Tigers U15 soccer team after winning their division of the Gunn Baldursson tournament. Back row, from left: Abbey Thomas, assistant coach, Amy Theriault, head coach, Alexa Custance, Macayla Stanton, Camryn Gidney, Calli Amero, Hannah Theriault, Raven Cromwell, Ella Moore, Lauren Sollows, Payton Tupper, Andrea Williams, assistant coach. Front row, from left: Dakota Stewart, Karly Leblanc, Gemma Moore, Holly Hasselbring and keeper Madison Brown. did that and more. Their passion and their drive on the field and off was evident, I think, all weekend.”
Offering a few thoughts on her team’s accomplishment the day after the tournament ended, she said, “We’re pretty humble and we just love the game of soccer. Their sense of teamwork is always there.”
Referring to the Tigers’ titlewinning performance in Wolfville, she said, “They wanted it and they played their positions, they supported each other, they communicated.”
The team’s assistant coaches are Abby Thomas and Andrea Willliams.
“We really have a great group of girls that are supported by their parents,” Theriault said. “So we’re very much like a family.”
She said she believed this is the first time a Digby team has won a Gunn Baldursson soccer title.
In a post on her team’s Facebook page, she talked about the intensity of Sunday’s final, referring to another big soccer event that was taking place that day.
“Thank you all for playing your hearts out,” she wrote. “That was one of the most intense games I have seen in a while ... Really, who needed to be watching the World Cup when we had you girls providing just as much excitement and entertainment.”