The Cochrane Cobras girls soccer team took home their second Rocky View Sports Association (RVSA) divisional banner after a very tense 2-1 victory over the Springbank Phoenix on Oct. 21.
The Cobras got a goal from Bryn White early in the game to make the score 1-0 Cochrane High. Springbank fought their way back and managed to score a goal that knotted the contest up at 1-1 heading into the second half of play. The Cobras got the game winner of a strike from Bryn Barrett that beat the Phoenix goaltender midway through the second half. They were able to thwart off any remaining Springbank attempts to hold onto victory.
"We were pretty nervous going into the game knowing that we on a pretty even playing field with them (Springbank)," said Cobras head coach Carolyn McLeod.
"We had two players that were injured and couldn't play, but thankfully our rec player Aislin Phillips came back so that was helpful. They also got their rec player back as well and made it one-for-one. Having Aislin back in the central mid was great for us ... She was unbelievable. She directs the play and gets the other girls moving. Our ball movement was really strong, so playing a team like Springbank who is also good in the area, was really important for us because we were able to take away a lot of the play from them. I feel like we had more consistent pressure throughout the game than they did. They had a couple times where they came at us and put some heat on our goalie, but we managed to battle back. It was tight the whole time."
"It was a team effort. From the keeper (Maxime Hayes) to our mid-back in Ella Nugent, our defensive players such as Bryn Barrett who scored the game winning goal, our wingers were outstanding and Jamie Rovere, who battled hard every game despite injury and illness, she just kept swinging. As for our strikers, we kept changing them up, but we have a lot of young girls ... We played every girl in the game so I would say that all 20 girls who showed up, made a contribution to the win and they all felt like they earned and deserved to win. They deserved that."
McLeod also said the girls were very composed during the most important game of the season, something that speaks volumes to their character and ability to compete in tough games.
"They were very calm ... (Jill Wennekamp, co-head coach) and I were not," McLeod said with a laugh. "It was just such a close battle and we knew that any close break through the middle, Springbank was capable of putting the ball into the back of our net. They have some really good strikers, midfielders and no matter how hard our keeper tries, there is the potential for them (Springbank) to score. Maxime made a massive save late in the game and it made the difference."
"We tactically changed things up a bit, we took a striker off and put on a defensive midfielder and put a man-marker on their rec player in order to prevent her from doing any damage. We bulked up a little bit on defence, not necessarily to help our backline, that backfires as you try to collapse and it doesn't usually work that well. We wanted to make sure we contained the midfield because once they get through there, it doesn't really work out in our favour as Springbank is a really talented and deep team. It ended up working out though and helped us maintain that very small lead."
The Cobras had to fight through some adversity this season, losing an earlier match up to Springbank by a score of 4-1 as well as finishing second in the Zone Championships after a loss in the finals. McLeod said that the girls were able to battle back and prove they were the best team in the RVSA.
"That loss to Springbank, was tough. Springbank unleashed their fury on us and the team was pretty down about it, but once we got to Zones and knew we were playing them in the semi's, the girls really decided that they weren't going to lose again," McLeod said.
"They stepped up to the challenge, played really well and obviously beat them 1-0. Now that came as a detriment to us in own next game because we had nothing left in the tank against an equally as good Holy Trinity Academy side. As much as we'd love to have taken on HTA and we did for a half, the second half came, the wheels fell off and we just couldn't do it. The girls we really need a lot from had played tough and couldn't do it ... it was tough to lose but they knew the season wasn't done, came out and managed to squeak out a win against Bert Church and stepped up to the plate and were ready from kickoff against Springbank. There's only so much we as coaches can say to them, we can't will them to do these things, but they came together, worked together and supported each other and despite us losing two games. There wasn't any finger pointing and it was pretty cool to see their character and class come through ... it really speaks volumes."
