The Source are the queens of women's soccer after a thrilling shootout win over Xenichen Ya Yas last Sunday in Sechelt.
The two-day tournament started Saturday with less than ideal conditions - namely cold temperatures and a snow flurry, but by Sunday afternoon, the sun was out and the action on the pitch heated up.
The two semifinals saw IGA Blazers against Source, and Ya Yas against the Gibsons Pigs.
Ya Yas opened the scoring, but with 10 minutes left, Pigs' Teagan Crozier sent through a ball hit home by Ginny Blattler. Ya Yas game winner came in the final two minutes on an impossible alley-oop hit by Christina Joe. Joe hammered a high ball outside the centre circle that arched across the field to drop behind the Pigs' keeper.
Pigs got good games from Rinette Lagace in net, fullbacks Janice Hendrickson and Lara Ewert, and midfielder Catherine Andreas, while Ya Yas' Carrie Dixon and Arlene Dixon also played well.
The Source/Blazers semi saw both teams wait until overtime for their scoring, as Kara McDonnell put through a ball hit by Tracey Cousins, and Ashley Taylor hammered a 25-yarder in the final two minutes. In the resulting shootout, Source snipers need to readjust their scopes as they missed the net, but luckily Tara Sullivan made big saves, and then hit a spot kick of her own to put Source through to the final. In their 4-0, third place win over Pigs, Blazers got scoring from fleet-footed winger Jasmine Di Pietro and great defending from Skylar Sita and Jill Stinson. Blazers incidentally also have three mother/daughter pairs on their squad.
In the final, Source again played through regulation time to a 0-0 draw, with Ya Yas. Coaches Ian Dixon and Ken Campbell, who will face each other this weekend in the men's semifinal, spurred their strikers on, but they were thwarted on every advance by excellent goal keeping. Ya Yas' Tina "the Titan" Joe and Source's Carolyn Spence got their hands dirty, and their jerseys filthy, but kept their goal mouths clean in their shut out performances. As the teams and spectators gathered around the goal area in a crowd that exceeded 200, the exhausted keepers faced the best sharp shooters the opposing squads could muster, and when the dust cleared, Source for Sports held up the first place trophy, in a weekend immensely enjoyed by everyone.
