“Can you Photoshop the sun in,” one frigid fan cracked from the sidelines.
“I want to go home,” a visiting player panned half-kidding.
Oceanside’ Stormers topped the Inferno from Nanaimo 4-2 in cold windy conditions at Arrowview Elementary School last Saturday.
Key to the win said Stormers’ coach Todd Layman, “was the coin toss. The coin toss was everything ... we won the coin toss and scored the first three goals with the wind at our backs, then hung on in the second half.
“It was all about the wind on Saturday,” he chuckled, “it was huge,” then agreed wholeheartedly, “it was also very cold.”
Oceanside led 3-0 at the break; Breanna Ashdown struck for two goals in the opening half, and Claudia Ritzker scored one in the first and one in the second.
It was the Stormers’ third straight win and ups their regular season record to 5-3-2 for sole possession of fourth place and in the mix for top-three in the eight-team Mid Island league.
The Stormers, added their coach, “come to play with big hearts, because most times we only have 11 players. They give it their all every game,” he said proudly, adding we’re one of the stronger teams in the league, and it’s just due to their hard work, plain and simple.”
Most teams in the league have around five subs per game.
“We play as a team, that’s kind of our motto,” said Layman, adding “we all have to play strong for us to win, and they’ve been doing that the last five games. The girls have really stepped it up, it’s like night and day.”
GAME ON
The Stormers are in action down at Serauxman Field in Nanaimo Saturday against the Nanaimo Storm who were sitting forth.
Whoever wins that game has a shot at third — there are only five points separating first from fourth.
sports@pqbnews.com