Field of dreams
Beat Cameron Heights, 5-1; take county title
Bluevale Collegiate Institute Knights players, from left, Madison Baker, Paisley Steele, Abby Beaton and Jordyn Faiczak celebrate a goal at the WCSSAA Field Hockey final against the Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute Golden Gaels, at Woodside Park in Kitchener on Thursday. The Knights won.
KITCHENER — The Bluevale Knights didn’t leave this one to chance.
The Knights put the finishing touches on a dominant season Thursday afternoon by claiming their third consecutive Waterloo County high school field hockey championship.
The powerhouse produced a 5-1 win over the Cameron Heights Golden Gaels at Woodside Park. The same two teams played in last year’s final at the same venue and Bluevale needed an overtime session to win the title.
There was no suspense this year as Abby Beaton, with two, Madison Baker, Jordyn Faiczak and Paisley Steele scored for Bluevale in a game played in a steady rain. The Knights finished 16-0 in WCSSAA play and outscored their opponents 68-2 along the way.
“It’s such an honour to be part of this team. I’m just so proud of everyone and how far we’ve come this season,” said Baker.
“I love all these girls like they are my sisters and I wouldn’t want to win this title with anyone else. I’m just so proud of everyone.”
Both teams, along with the Southwood Sabres, advance to next week’s Central Western Ontario championship tournament at RIM Park and Woodside Park. The District 8 champion Resurrection Phoenix will also participate, along with Guelph Collegiate and John F. Ross of Guelph.
The Knights, with head coach Tara Macey at the helm, have finished in the medal picture (one silver, one bronze) at the past two all-Ontario (OFSAA) championships and can get back to OFSAA by earning a spot in next week’s CWOSSA final.
“We’re very similar to last year but we’re a year older and more experienced,” said Beaton.
“We wanted to keep this (WCSSAA) streak going, and we did, and we obviously want to get back to OFSAA.”
Baker opened the scoring for Bluevale just three minutes into the final when she beat Cameron Heights goalkeeper Sarah Hunter during a frantic scramble in front of the net.
Cameron Heights responded a minute later, off a short corner, when Sam McCrory blasted a low, hard shot past Knights goalkeeper Madeline Waywell.
The Knights made the most of two short-corner opportunities before the end of the half as Beaton scored on a nice feed from Baker and Faiczak fired a rocket off a Cameron Heights defender to make it 3-1 at the break.
Bluevale steamrolled Cameron Heights for much of the second half and only the solid play of Hunter kept the game close.
Steele added Bluevale’s fourth goal midway through the second half and Beaton added her second off another short corner.
Cameron Heights head coach Joy Crockett was disappointed with how her team faded in the second half after a promising start. Her team’s inability to defend the short corner is another area of concern she wants to address before the CWOSSA tournament.
“The first half, we were in it and hit was a beautiful game to watch and then our players kind of fell apart … there 15 minutes when it felt like there were only four (Cameron Heights) players on the field,” she said.
“Hopefully, we’ll see (Bluevale) again in the CWOSSA final.”
Southwood earned a spot at CWOSSA with a 2-1 win over the Waterloo-Oxford Crusaders in a play-in game.
Brooke Ritchie and Taylor Trussler scored for Sabres, and Maddie Sturgeon replied for the Crusaders.
Resurrection, which is aiming for its third straight OFSAA championships, advanced to CWOSSA with a 2-1 win over the St. David Celtics in the District 8 final.