Oceanside’s two senior girls soccer teams squared off for a rare league game recently, with the Whalers clipping the Kondors, 2-1.
Played out at Ballenas Secondary School last Thursday, Kwalikum Secondary School’s Carlea Williamson opened the scoring when she buried a shot top left corner off a partial breakaway. The Kondors’ held on to the 1-nil lead until the second half when BSS standout Emma Greig knotted it, 1-1.
Rachel Jones scored the winner for Ballenas, when she pounced on a back-pass, stole the ball at midfield, cut in, and wired a low hard shot past the keeper from the top of the box.
“It was a competitive game — they were ready to play,” BSS head coach Larry Stefanek said after. “It was one of those games where we missed so many chances, especially in the first half.
“Their keeper (Angelina Gasteldello) made some great saves and was the player of the game, no doubt, but we have to find a way to finish. At least we were creating the chances though which was very positive.”
Earning props from Stefanek for their play at midfield were Olivia Virs and Jenna Peachey, as well as Val Watson whose powerful throw-ins caught the Kondors off guard more than once.
“She can throw it a long ways — she’s our long throw-in specialist,” Stefanek said about Watson’s hard accurate passes.
The Whalers carried the play for most of the game. Backup keeper Gaby Hebert picked up the win in net for BSS.
While the two sides have a long-running rivalry, this is the first time in years that both teams are slotted in the AA league — BSS has been AAA for years.
The win ups the Whalers’ regular season record to 4-0 in the six-team Mid-Island league with one game remaining. That game was scheduled for today (Tuesday) at home against Woodlands, but the Golden Eagles forfeited, which secures Ballenas first tplace at 5-0.
Only their second loss of the regular season, the Kondors finish league play in third at 3-2. Against Ballenas, Katie Lindsay and Celine Barnett also had outstanding games for KSS.
“It was a close game and I’m very proud of the way our team has come together and battled this year,” KSS coach Andy Stanhope surmised after, adding, “our two losses have been only by one goal and with playoffs coming next week I expect the Kondors to be a tough team to face.”
GAME ON
The Whalers open the three-game district playdowns Thursday at home against an unknown opponent. Game time is 3:45 p.m. The Kondors are in also in action on Thursday — opponent and location had not been determined by deadline.