The Carihi girls soccer team enjoyed an outstanding North Island Championship last week and won its ninth championship in 18 years. The victory in the final was the largest recorded in AAA history.
The opening game saw the players from Carihi and Cowichan drenched in sunshine as the incredible heat wave continued. Carihi dominated the game from the start and Cowichan was reduced to a couple of quick counter attacks and simply knocking long balls for their forwards to chase.
Keeper Haley Craddock was alert at all times and controlled her defensive third of the field.
The opening goal came 17 minutes in.
A strong corner was knocked in from captain Claire Pomeroy and allowed to bounce freely in the penalty area. Selena Lasota was first to react and scored a volley from ten yards out.
The Cowichan keeper then made a couple of great saves to keep them in the game but she could do nothing about the Tyees second goal. Eilidh “Razza” Rasmussen knocked a ball across to “Pomey” who took the ball on her left foot, feinted to shoot and then cut back on her right before slotting the ball into the corner of the net.
Lasota secured the third goal with a strike from eighteen yards out just before half time. The Tyees continued to put pressure on the now tiring Cowichan team and the fourth came shortly into the second half from Anika Shelrud.
The next goal was a result of tireless running by “Pomey” and Lasota.
Lasota pressured the ball and pulled it back for “Pomey” to finish. The last goal was a firm strike from Shelrud from the top of the eighteen. All in all it was a very comfortable victory to secure a place in the final against Dover Bay who had defeated Alberni 3-0.
The final saw some old foes reunite.
Carihi has met Dover on six occasions in the final, most recently last year when they won 4-0.
The opening twenty minutes was an even affair.
It was a keeper error that provided the opportunity for the first Tyee goal.
A free kick was knocked into the box and it seemed as though the Dover keeper had the ball in her arms only for it to pop out. “Razza” was the first to react and Carihi had their lead. Moments later a shot from Shelrud was saved by the keeper only for Karlyn Healy to pounce upon the rebound and tap in the second goal.
Just before half time “Razza” found the corner of the net.
In the second half, “Pomey” scored a superb individual goal while the fifth goal was scored by “Razza” dancing into the penalty area, going around the onrushing keeper and tapping the ball into the net.
The sixth and final goal saw Shelrud get to a loose ball about six yards out and secure the last goal for a 6-0 win.
The Tyees now head to Victoria for the AAA Island Championship on Monday and Tuesday.
Last season the girls won the Island Championship Carihi has never won back-to-back AAA Island Championships.