Taken at face value, last week’s season-ending 6-1 loss to Handsworth could be a tough pill to swallow.
But the New Westminster senior girls soccer team, although falling short of its goal of a B.C. AAA tournament berth, have reasons to hold their heads high.
Handsworth jumped ahead 1-0 before the game was two minutes old, and doubled it by the 10 minute mark. Sarah Forgie put New West on the scoreboard 11 minutes into the second half off a free kick, but the North Van rival replied quickly to make it 3-1. The third goal seemed to take the wind out of the Hyacks’ sails, and was followed by a couple more strikes to finish the game.
The year ended more like a whimper than a bang, but the shards of the season had plenty of sparkle. Right from the start, when the program decided to create two teams to compete in the Burnaby-New West league, things looked promising. Along the way,the Hyacks captured a league banner.
“We went with two teams and it is something I’m very proud that the school was able to do,” said coach Wayne McCarthy. “Argyle and Handsworth did it the other way and loaded up big rosters. I didn’t want to cut players when so many really wanted to play.
“Two teams instead of a larger roster may have hurt us with all the injuries this week but in retrospect, I don’t think I’d do it differently.”
