In what just might be a preview to the Ryan Cup high school senior girls鈥� soccer final, the Oak Bay Breakers held off the Reynolds Roadrunners 2-1 on a wind-swept Braefoot Park turf field on Thursday afternoon.
The Breakers used goals from Sophie de Goede and Anelise Karakostas in the 15th and 18th minutes with the wind at their backs in the first half in the regular-season schedule鈥檚 last day of play.
Olivia Trotter struck back for Reynolds on a penalty kick after a hand ball in the 52nd minute and the Breakers dodged numerous other chances as the Roadrunners were unfortunate not to tie it.
Cecilia Way鈥檚 long-range strike blistered just wide late in the game and Trotter and Natalie Koehn also pushed at least a trio of attempts, just off the mark.
Oak Bay, now ranked No. 1 in the province, also edged the Roadrunners (an honourable mention) 1-0 in the recent UVic Nike tournament championship game.
鈥淟ike I said at the UVic tournament, against Reynolds it鈥檚 always going to be a battle,鈥� said Oak Bay coach Brent Garraway. 鈥淚t was a total battle of halves. With J.J. [Reynolds coach J.J. Atterbury] you can be up 3-0 or 4-0 and you鈥檒l still know the game isn鈥檛 over.
鈥淚 was proud of the girls. We like to try and win pretty when we can, but I take pride in us winning ugly whenever we can, too.鈥�
The Breakers grab first place in the triple-A division of Lower Island play, while Reynolds is second, after defeating Stelly鈥檚 4-0 on Tuesday as the Stingers were minus several players.
Reynolds was a tough opponent on this day, as it was in the UVic final.
鈥淎nother good, competitive game,鈥� said Atterbury. 鈥淚 was happy with how our girls responded in the second half. We came on and created chances and, hopefully, that bodes well for Ryan Cup and the Islands.
鈥淭hey had the wind in the first half and we had it in the second half and it can play a role, especially if the ball is in the air a lot. I was happy with the way we responded. We took it up a notch, started pressuring and creating opportunities and you could see the desire was there,鈥� Atterbury said.
鈥淭he wind will always factor in at this level,鈥� offered Garraway. 鈥淭here just aren鈥檛 enough players to knock a ball around with composure through the buildup, so it does get panicky at times.鈥�
There were a few chances against the wind as Koehn just failed to get her head cleanly onto a corner kick that went wide and Anika Way made a strong run for Reynolds, only to be forced off the opportunity by Breakers鈥� defender Desi Leal.
The Ryan Cup playoffs begin on Tuesday with quarter-finals at the home of the higher-placed teams (matchups were not yet determined as of Thursday night), followed by semifinals this coming Thursday at UVic turf fields. The championship game goes May 10 at UVic turf.
Reynolds defeated Oak Bay 2-1 (4-2 in penalty kicks) in last year鈥檚 Ryan Cup championship.
