The Glenlyon Norfolk School Gryphons will be a force to contend with this single-A senior girls soccer season.
They proved that on Thursday as they kicked off their Lower Island campaign in the single-A/double-A division with a resounding 8-0 win over St. Margaret鈥檚 School, which has taken on the team moniker of Pandas this season.
Gryphons head coach and new soccer director Sonny Pawar had his team finely tuned for an early season campaign at Beckwith Park, striking for seven goals in roughly a 14-minute span in the first half.
Ellie McLeod opened the scoring with a pair in the 10th and 12th minutes of play after she had sailed a pair of attempts just high and wide of the mark early on.
Kaya Oro-Martin then struck for two more in the 13th and 16th minutes before Emily Forster-Coull added a fifth in the 21st minute. Andrea Demeo then popped a pair in the 22nd and 24th as the Gryphons opened up a 7-0 advantage at the break.
鈥淚t was a good result for us, obviously. We were anxious and happy to get that game out of the way and get on the field to compete against someone else,鈥� said Pawar. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e always a little antsy to get the first one out of the way. Once the first few went in, we settled in and started to settle in and played the ball around, which was nice.
鈥淥ur expectations are high,鈥� he said of the season. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just my first year here. I鈥檓 just starting to get to know the girls, but it鈥檚 important that we represent the school well, the community well and ourselves well. The expectations are not only on the soccer field, but the community as well.
鈥淚 think we鈥檒l end up trying to be as competitive as we can at the provincial level. That鈥檚 a safe goal for us. There are always ups and downs through the course of the season, but I think we have our eyes on the prize for a decent run.鈥�
They will be challenged by St. Michaels University School and Lambrick Park in league play and will set their sights on single-A Islands, slated for a North school, yet to be determined, likely May 16-17. Provincials are scheduled for Fort St. James, June 2-4.
On Thursday, Lynaea Korol-Filbey had the lone GNS goal in the second half as the Gryphons stuck to a more tactical, possession game.
鈥淵ou ask the athletes to continue on working on habits that build champions or good players. It鈥檚 not hard to do with this group,鈥� said Pawar, who has a solid midfield with Oro-Martin, Chelsea Roberts and Chloe Korol-Filbey and centre-back Caitlin Forster-Coull.
It was the second straight lop-sided defeat for St. Margaret鈥檚 (which lost to SMUS in Game 1) as the school develops experience.
鈥淎 lot of our players have never played soccer before,鈥� said coach Donna Holmwood. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e just loving the game and the opportunity to play. Our goal is to get these girls to university and enjoy the sport in intramurals.鈥�
Meanwhile, the Lower Island triple-A league will begin play on Tuesday as Spectrum visits Stelly鈥檚 and Claremont tackles Oak Bay. Mount Douglas and Reynolds round out the upper echelon league, while Royal Bay, St. Andrews, Parkland and Vic High also compete in the single-A/double-A league.
Ryan Cup play will begin May 3 with the final slated for May 10 at UVic.
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