The Kwalikum Secondary junior girls soccer team will be headed into the North Islands as the number one seed from their south division.
The Kondors started the league playoffs as the fourth place team, behind first place Dover Bay, Ladysmith and the Ballenas Whalers (third).
The Kondors had a tough road to get to the North Islands, which are being held in Qualicum Beach at both KSS and Qualicum Beach Middle School May 1-2.
KSS’ first match of the league playoffs was against the Barsby Bulldogs under some nasty field conditions. Played at Dover Bay in Nanaimo and with rain in the forecast for Thursday, the girls tried everything not to let the sloppy weather effect their game.
“It’s always tougher when the weather isn’t favourable. Playing in sloppy conditions with the rain and mud tends to make the game sloppy too,” head coach Ruth Stefanek said. “Luckily, the girls were well prepared and didn’t let the bad weather stop them from playing their game.”
The Kondors came out strong in their opening game of the tournament, beating Barsby 3–0. Goalkeeper Grace Yacoboski earned the clean sheet in this one as Sofia Jorgenson scored off a corner kick and Alex Shaw bulged the twine two times for the Kondors.
Saturday saw better conditions as the Kondors took on the host Dover Bay Dolphins in their first test of the day.
Shaw put the Kondors on the board in the first two minutes off a penalty kick. Yacoboski earned yet another clean sheet with the 1-0 shutout which sent KSS to the final against Ladysmith.
“We played really great defense in that second game,” Stefanek said. “We put a lot of pressure on their shooters all game and they had a hard time putting a lot of their shots on net. Our defense really played big in that one and Grace made some big saves to keep the door closed.”
Ladysmith found their way on the board early in to the game when the Kondors had one bounce off a defender for an own goal. Ladysmith would find the net once again in the middle of the first half to go up to 2–0.
The Kondors came out of the gates in the second half and cut the lead to one after Ladysmith’s keeper put a clearing attempt off Jorgenson for their first score.
KSS got another tally with five minutes in regular time as Nica Drake was hauled down outside the 18-yard box, with Shaw converting the free kick.
The Kondors pulled the win out with a corner kick, which bounced off Maya Gayton and found it’s way to the back of the net after Shaw put it in with just seconds left in overtime.
The Kondors now host the North Islands May 1-2 with their first game at 10 a.m. May 1 against Barsby at KSS.