The St. Michaels University School Blue Jags girls’ soccer team members were busy Wednesday with the school’s annual musical production.
Perhaps appropriately, this year’s production is School of Rock, because off-stage the Blue Jags hope to rock the pitch in hosting the B.C. girls’ Double-A high school championship tournament today through Saturday at the University of Victoria turf fields.
The Blue Jags are loaded with future U Sports varsity athletes, several of them all-rounders, as they look to add the B.C. title to their Island championship. Sophie Olcen and Brianne McLeish are headed next fall to play soccer at UVic for the Vikes. Makena Anderson is also going to play for UVic, not at Centennial Stadium, but CARSA Gym for the Vikes basketball team. Amanda Adams and Rebecca Stone are also headed to UVic, but on the adjacent pitch to Centennial, for the four-time defending national champion Vikes field-hockey team. Allegra Nelson and Eva Cuddihy are also committed to U Sports field hockey at the University of Calgary and University of Guelph, respectively.
“This is multi-talented and special group that has come up together and are now Grade 12s. It’s been an unbelievable crew to coach these past few years,” said SMUS head coach Jackie Cunningham. “It’s an incredibly strong, amazing and athletic group. We focus a lot on defensive shape but also have excellent attacking play up front.”
That has been evident in the Blue Jags’ season success as they have gone 22-1 across all competitions in sweeping to the Greater Victoria regular season, Ryan Cup and Island championships. The only blemish has been a loss to Alberta-power Archbishop MacDonald of Edmonton in the UVic tournament.
“We used that loss to really come together,” said the veteran mentor Cunningham, in her fifth year coaching SMUS after two decades of guiding the Stelly’s Stingers. Mark Isfeld Ice of Courtenay goes in as the Island second team, Brentwood College the third team and Brooks of Powell River the fourth team following results in the Island championships.
SMUS opens today against Smithers at 9 a.m., Brentwood College plays defending champion Notre Dame of Vancouver at 10:45 a.m. and Mark Isfeld meets Hugh McRoberts of Richmond at 10:45 a.m. SMUS continues this afternoon against South Kamloops at 12:30 while Brentwood plays Valleyview of Kamloops and Mark Isfeld meets Duchess Park of Prince George at 2:15.
The round-robin continues Friday with Mark Isfeld playing Langley and Brentwood College playing LV Rogers of Nelson at 9 a.m. and SMUS playing Crofton House of Vancouver at 10:45 a.m.
Brooks plays Holy Cross of Surrey at 9 a.m. and Archbishop Carney of Port Coquitlam at 12:30 today, and meets Collingwood of West Vancouver on Friday at 10:45 a.m. The playoffs begin at 12:30 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. Friday. The placing games begin at 9 a.m. Saturday with the bronze-medal game at 9 a.m. and championship game beginning at 11:30 a.m.
The Island champion Reynolds Roadrunners, along with the Oak Bay Breakers and Stelly’s Stingers, are representing the Island in the girls’ Triple-A high school soccer championships today through Saturday in Kelowna.
cdheensaw@timescolonist.com
