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Evolution earns berth in Provincial Cup final

On the trail to the Coastal Cup

The Comox Valley Evolution is a team made up of players from Comox, Courtenay, Cumberland, Campbell River and Black Creek.

This past weekend they earned a berth in the Provincials in Pentiction July 7-9 by defeating Cowichan’s U18 squad in the B Cup finals in Duncan on Sunday. It was an intense game for they players, as the teams were evenly matched and the action was end to end with plenty of scoring opportunities for both teams. The parents and fans were treated to an excellent show.

The Evolution got the first goal in the opening minutes of play when Brittany Tilley moved the ball up the left wing to Rebecca Williams who in turn headed it over to Maddy Bams who tapped into the net.

A short time later, Stephanie Henwood took a free kick from around the center line and got the ball up to Christina Patterson.She kicked it over to Bams who then chipped it over the keeper’s head and scored her second goal of the match to make it 2-0 Evolution.

Both teams continued to play hard throughout the remainder of the half but no more goals were scored.

Cowichan started the second half determined to score but the strong defensive play of Amanda Kersey, Kim Robertson, Dana Wheeldon, Annaliese McNaughton and Stephanie Henwood, plus some key saves by keeper Chelsea Tancon kept the ball going back to Cowichan’s end so the Evolution midfielders and forewards could put on some offensive pressure of their own.

Midway through the half Cowichan took advantage of a moment’s stand still by the Evolution and they netted one to make it a 2-1 game.  Play resumed at a very fast pace for the remainder of the game because both teams really wanted to win since the provincial berth was at stake.  Fans held their breath when Cowichan had a perfect scoring chance at an open net- and breathed again when Dana Wheeldon (who like Henwood had a great game) got her foot on it and saved what would have been the equalizing goal.Intense end to end action resumed until the final whistle when the Evolution cheered to celebrate their win.  Being their final season of youth soccer, the Evolution is looking forward to their last chance for a provincial gold medal. Since they entered rep play as a U12 team, the Evolution has qualified for the provincials 5 out of 7 seasons and has won a silver and a bronze medal. This win also gives the team a chance to take part in a semi-final game against a Lower Mainland team that takes the winner to the Coastal Cup final.