The Sunshine Coast Storm U14 girls were in hostile away-territory April 2 against the Port Coquitlam Euro-Rite FC, a team that took first place from the girls in the regular season, thus becoming their arch nemesis, and known for a physical style of play reminiscent of other contact sports.
The Storm looked fresh, happy and prepared for a real test of their skill against PoCo, for this was a sudden death playoff situation on the way to the Coastal Cup finals. As the Storm put words into action they engaged professionally and skillfully with PoCo, knowing full well that when a team plays hard together there’s not many who can stop you.
It was a battle for sure, as both sides knew how to get the ball down the field quickly and efficiently time after time. PoCo pulled out their high elbow style of dominance early on, but the Storm knew that finesse and perseverance with a little shoulder to shoulder is simply part of the game on any level, so bring it. It was a very high-energy exchange of wills, both teams wanting this to be a stepping stone to the quarter finals of the Coastal Cup. The ball control on the turf is always a challenge for our Storm girls because they have little real time on its fast, high bouncing surface, but after figuring out the nuances once again they went toe to toe with great passing and sweet breakaways that PoCo scrambled to subdue.
After a fantastic breakaway push into the PoCo penalty box, a foul was called correctly leading to the first of our goals, 1-0 at the half. An infectious thrill charged the Storm into strong coordinated play and now that the tide had turned in our favour, PoCo made more and more physical mistakes. One of these led to a free kick for the Storm, positioned just outside the box, delivered incredibly well, an arcing beauty to the top left corner for Ella Campbell’s second goal of the day to seal this incredible game, 2-0.
The Storm girls are making a serious challenge run for the cup again this year, a powerful effort from a superb group of girls and their incredible coach. If these girls work hard like they did on this fine day beside the Coquitlam river, the beautiful game will just get better every time. Look out, sports world – the Storm is moving on.
– Submitted by Patrick Fitzsimons
