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The championship final of the University of Victoria Nike Spring Classic high school senior girls鈥� soccer tournament seemed destined for penalty kicks until a high hop caught a Reynolds Roadrunner defender on the arm with 10 minutes to go, leading to a decisive handball call.
Oak Bay Breakers captain Holly Goodacre calmly walked up to the ball and decisively ripped the penalty kick off the crossbar, downward and in behind diving Reynolds keeper Jessica Gardiner for the eventual 1-0 championship win in the 22-team tournament.
鈥淚 was just glad it went in,鈥� said Goodacre, captain of the Breakers, who also scored the team鈥檚 lone goal in regulation time (tied 1-1) which ended in a penalty-kicks victory over R.A. McMath in the morning semi-final. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 going to let that opportunity go to waste.鈥�
The Saturday afternoon triumph was Oak Bay鈥檚 fifth straight win after claiming two victories on Friday over St. Michaels University School (2-1) and Glenlyon Norfolk School (2-0). On Thursday, the Breakers downed Mount Boucherie 4-2 in the gruelling tournament.
鈥淚t鈥檚 lots of games in a short period of time. We did really well, worked hard every game and came up with the win,鈥� said Goodacre, who, just before halftime, had sent a long free kick toward the Reynolds goal, which was stopped by Gardiner.
鈥淪he鈥檚 getting very clinical on her penalty kicks. She鈥檚 hitting it with lots of confidence,鈥� said Breakers coach Brent Garraway.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always tough in tournaments like this because teams are so fatigued by the last game. You鈥檙e playing with three or four injuries and they鈥檙e playing with three or four injuries. Basically, it鈥檚 see if you can battle through it and get the lucky bounce.鈥�
They got it against a competitive Reynolds team that blanked South Delta 2-0 in the morning semi-final.
鈥淩eynolds is really strong. They will do well,鈥� Garraway said of the triple-A opponent. 鈥淭here are three or four teams that could come off the Island this year. It鈥檚 too bad we only have two spots [for provincials].鈥�
Gardiner didn鈥檛 have a chance on the penalty kick which came after she made a great save off Maddie Trimmer, who snuck through the Roadrunners鈥� defence, but was closed down immediately by the hard-charging keeper.
鈥淯nfortunately, that happens sometimes,鈥� Reynolds coach J.J. Atterbury said of the handball call. 鈥淚 was happy to see the girls responded positively and continued to push forward to try and tie the game and continued to compete.
鈥淚t is a bit of a war of attrition through the three days,鈥� said Atterbury, who could only use Natalie Koehn sparingly due to a hamstring injury to the talented striker who will joining the UVic Vikes in August.
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