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Disappointment at B.C.s motivates Douglas women

As a training exercise, the PacWest championships wasn’t all it could have been for the Douglas College Royals.
Sneha sandhu
Douglas Royals midfielder Sneha Sandhu is knocked to the pitch by Capilano Blues midfielder Arin McIldoon in the first half of their PacWest women's soccer semifinal last week at the Burnaby Lake Sports Complex West. The second-ranked Royals lost 1-0 to Capilano. The Royals will still qualify for the national championship tournament, which they host at Percy Perry Stadium Nov. 6 to 10.

As a training exercise, the PacWest championships wasn’t all it could have been for the Douglas College Royals.

The women’s soccer team, which went into the provincial tourney knowing they had an automatic ticket to the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association’s national championships as the host team, failed to advance after a 1-0 loss to the Capilano Blues last Friday.

The semifinal contest was deadlocked after one half, but Caps’ Adrianna Babinski buried one behind the Royals’ Alexa Gazzola at the 56-minute mark for the game’s only goal. They registered five shots on net, but Blues’ netminder Darian Roussy stopped them all. A majority of that pressure, however, came in the first half.

Pressing for the equalizer, Douglas’ striker Mikayla Hamilton collided with two other players, including teammate Mikaela Montagano, and left the field on a stretcher.

“It was scary at the time as they were worried about a possible neck injury, but she had a concussion and whiplash. ... She’s been at our practice, and we’ve got our fingers crossed,” remarked Douglas coach Chris Laxton of her health and availability for the nationals.

Capilano would fall to Vancouver Island in the final.

Prior to the tourney, Douglas sat eighth in the most recent national poll.

Laxton doesn’t feel that the result will be a mitigating factor going forward, even if it presents them with a tougher draw to start.

“Hopefully we absorb this as a chance to learn and improve,” he noted. “We know what we have to do, but I think we need to just have a hungrier attitude and make better use of our chances.”

He noted that each of the club’s losses this year have been by 1-0 scores, reflecting how crucial just a few more goals would be to their overall success.

“It’s been incredibly hard to clawback after trailing in (the PacWest) this year. It’s not going to get easier (at the nationals), that's for sure.”

The Royals placed three players in the PacWest All-Conference all-star team: defender Hannah dela Cruz and midfielders Samantha Kell and Mikaela Montagano.

The CCAA national championships kick off Nov. 7, with the Royals playing the Quebec and four-time defending national champion Elan de Garneau. A victory would catapult them into the Nov. 8 semifinal.

The two met last year at the nationals, ending in a 1-0 Garneau win.

That decision will be part of the motivation for those who were in the lineup 12 months ago. The Quebec squad’s track record makes it a Davey and Goliath set-up, with Laxton hoping for a similar result.

“I think the closest comparison we had in our games this year to Garneau was (an exhibition match in August) against UBC. Although that score (4-0 for the Canada West team) wasn’t flattering in the end, we were able to match them in many aspects,” he said.

At the same point, the team’s recent offensive struggles has put a bright spotlight on the defence and Gazzola.

The Little Flower Academy alumna was a major component to last year’s charge to the nationals, where they placed fifth, and has been a very solid player this year. Her record includes four shutouts and a 0.91 goals-against average. Laxton feels she is one of the team’s difference makers.

“Alexa probably would have won some more awards if not for a concussion (last year), and this year she’s been very steady for us. … When we score we’re tough to beat,” he said.

The CCAA final is slated for Nov. 10 at Coquitlam’s Percy Perry Stadium.