Quick strikes just three minutes apart from Jules Litster and Nina LaFlamme broke open a tie game and led the Stelly鈥檚 Stingers to a resounding 6-1 victory over the Glenlyon Norfolk Gryphons in Ryans Cup quarter-final play on Thursday.
LaFlamme finished with three goals on the day, while Frankie Chatwin added a pair for the Stingers, who move on to face the Belmont Bulldogs in the Lower Island senior girls championship semifinal on Tuesday at the University of Victoria.
Oak Bay blanked Reynolds 2-0 in Thursday鈥檚 other quarter-final and move on to tackle Lambrick Park on Tuesday. Both semifinals go at 3:45 p.m. with the winners battling for the Ryan Cup next Thursday.
鈥淲e鈥檙e excited to play Belmont again,鈥� said Stelly鈥檚 coach Jackie Cunningham. 鈥淲e lost a really close one to them during the season, giving up a late goal in a back-and-forth game. So we鈥檙e happy to get another crack at them.鈥�
Diana Chkipov actually opened the scoring for Glenlyon, finishing off a tic-tac-toe passing sequence, just 12 minutes in. Her fabulous strike from outside the penalty area got over the outstretched arms of Stelly鈥檚 keeper Shavone Barchen-Hobson. The ball ricocheted off the crossbar and in, but it would be the only ball to get by the goalkeeper.
LaFlamme then evened it up in the 25th minute with her first as she gobbled up Ava Scott-Moncrief鈥檚 delicious cross, brought it down and beat Gryphons goalkeeper Farrah Newnham.
Litster and LaFlamme delivered in the 33rd and 36th minutes for a 3-1 lead at the half as Stelly鈥檚 turned it up a notch.
Chatwin鈥檚 outstanding left-footer from outside the box made it 4-1 in the 60th minute before LaFlamme capped her hat-trick goal. Chatwin then headed home Scott-Moncrief鈥檚 corner kick in the waning minutes.
Scott-Moncrief and LaFlamme certainly dictated most of the play on Glenlyon鈥檚 home pitch.
鈥淪he鈥檚 a delight to have back,鈥� Cunningham said of Scott-Moncrief, who just returned from injury, and was in on almost every goal. 鈥淎nd Nina is lightning quick and tough to defend when she gets going.鈥�
Alynn Dagg rattled a brilliant strike off the joint of the post/crossbar, and Cami Jara was also stopped in close by Newnham as the Stingers were relentless.
鈥淚鈥檒l give credit to Stelly鈥檚, they played well,鈥� Glenlyon coach Justin Parish. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 deal very well with their long ball. It caused us problems all day. Our first goal was very nice, but we sort of got a little casual and let them back in the game.鈥�
The Gryphons, who won the UVic spring tournament two weeks ago, were without some key players due to injury.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 make any excuses. We didn鈥檛 deal with their physicality or their long balls, so we didn鈥檛 deserve to win,鈥� said Parish.
CORNER KICKS: Stelly鈥檚 junior girls defeated Reynolds 1-0 on a goal by Kiara Kilbet on Thursday to claim the city championship for a second straight season.
