PEISAA 2020 Field Hockey

PEISAA 2020 FIELD HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIPS

SENIOR AAA WOMEN LEAGUE FIELD HOCKEY ALL-STARS

INTERMEDIATE FIELD HOCKEY TOURNAMENT ALL-STARS and MVP

 Senior High School Provincial Tournament All Stars and MVP

Charlottetown Rural gives head coach long-awaited provincial field hockey championship

Premium contentJason Simmonds(jason.simmonds@journalpioneer.com)
Published: a day agoUpdated: 20 hours agoFacebookTwitterMore

he Charlottetown Rural Raiders bounced back in a big way to give first-year head coach Hannah Fong a long-awaited title.

After spotting the Bluefield Bobcats a 1-0 lead, the Raiders scored two unanswered goals en route to winning the P.E.I. School Athletic Association Senior AAA Girls Field Hockey League championship at the UPEI turf field on Wednesday night. The final score of the gold-medal game was 2-1.

“We kind of started slow,” Fong told The Guardian in a post-game interview. “Once we got our first goal to tie the game, we got rolling from there.”

It marked the first provincial field hockey championship Fong has won as either a player or coach. Her playing career included eight years at Queen Charlotte Intermediate, Colonel Gray and Western University in Ontario. Fong, who has won tournament titles before, said, “it feels good” to win that elusive first provincial crown.

First goal

Keera Vos gave Bluefield a 1-0 lead, but a late first-half goal by Livi Lawlor, the Raiders’ player-of-the-game, evened the score 1-1.

Rural forward Kayla Batchilder scored the game-winning goal early in the second half.

“We just got it to the net, and I just put it in,” said Batchilder, who made no mistake scoring low into the corner of the net.

Batchilder, who added it feels “amazing” to win the provincial championship, said the Raiders did not panic after falling behind.

“We just didn’t get down and kept going,” said the 15-year-old Grade 10 student from East Royalty.

Fong said once the Raiders started clicking, they began to carry the play and credited the team’s centre-line.

“They kept pushing the ball forward. They were playing strong offence and defence, and we could rely on them to keep the ball from not heading too far down in our end and keep pushing it back up for some goals.”

Fong liked that the Raiders did not sit back after taking the lead and kept pushing forward in search of an insurance goal before putting another defender back to hold the line in the final five minutes.

Avery Bradley registered the goaltending win. Her counterpart, Carla Stewart, was named the Bobcats’ player of the game.

First meeting

The final, which was a rematch of last year’s final won by Bluefield in a shootout competition, marked the first meeting of the 2020 season between the Raiders and Bobcats. The teams played in different pools during the regular season.

The Raiders went 4-0 (won-lost) in pool play against Montague and then Colonel Gray, edged Montague 1-0 in the semifinals. The gold-medal win capped a 6-0 season.

The Bobcats went 4-2 overall. Bluefield and Three Oaks comprised the other pool, with the Bobcats winning three of four regular-season meetings. Bluefield defeated Colonel Gray 1-0 in the semifinals.

“It’s hard to prepare in a season when you can only play one team, and you have four in-season games and you move right into playoffs,” said Bluefield co-coach Sarah Sonier. “All things considered, they had a great season and it was great that they were able to have a season. They had a lot of fun, and that is what matters most, no matter the outcome of the game.”

Sonier added the Bobcats played a strong game in the final and credited Rural with a well-deserved win.

Bluefield co-coach Hannah Sentner said the Bobcats “played their hearts out” and did what the team worked on all season.

Bronze Medal

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – Colonel Gray edged Montague 1-0 in the bronze-medal game of the P.E.I. School Athletic Association (PEISAA) Senior Girls Field Hockey League at the UPEI turf field on Wednesday.

Mckenna Munn scored the game’s lone goal while Laura Scantlebury registered the shutout.

Players of the game were Gray’s Ella Hennessey and Montague goaltender Karyss MacDonald.

Jason Simmonds is a sports reporter for The Guardian. Twitter.com/JpsportsJason

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Warriors, Coyotes play a game to remember in PEISAA intermediate field hockey final

Premium contentJason Simmonds(jason.simmonds@journalpioneer.com)
Published: a day agoUpdated: a day agoFacebookTwitterMore

Less-than-ideal playing conditions didn’t stop the East Wiltshire Warriors and Queen Charlotte Coyotes from playing a game for the ages to decide the 2020 P.E.I. School Athletic Association (PEISAA) Intermediate AA Girls Field Hockey League championship.

The teams were scoreless through regulation and two overtime halves before East Wiltshire outscored Queen Charlotte 5-4 in the nine-round shootout competition.

“It feels amazing,” said the Warriors’ Rachael Campbell. “We deserved it and worked really hard.”

On a cold and windy Tuesday night under the lights at the UPEI turf field, with spectators bundled up in toques, gloves, winter coats and blankets while others watched from their vehicles, both teams left everything they had to give on the field. 

PEISAA school sport co-ordinator Phil Bridges paid tribute to the efforts of both teams during the medal ceremony. Bridges told the teams and spectators this is a game the players will look back on with fond memories many years from now.

“It was an incredible game, and we are grateful to be able to have a season,” said Queen Charlotte head coach Sheila Bell. “To finish it like this, and have it (go) down to several rounds of shootouts, it came down to one shot. 

“It was a great game by both teams, and it’s been a pleasure to see the girls out playing with all these circumstances going on.”

Winning goal

With the game on her stick, Campbell made no mistake scoring the championship-clinching goal following a last-second change in strategy against first-year Queen Charlotte goalie Sophie MacIsaac. 

Campbell said it was the biggest goal of her field hockey career.

“I knew she was coming towards me and I knew I had space,” said Campbell, a 13-year-old Grade 8 student from Bonshaw. “I wasn’t looking at her so she would not know where I was shooting. 

“I was going to go to the corner, but, at the last second, I decided to go straight, and it went right past her.”

“I was going to go to the corner, but, at the last second, I decided to go straight, and it went right past her.” – Rachael Campbell

MacIsaac and East Wiltshire goalie Alexis Marshall were both outstanding. As a result, they were named the players of the game for their respective teams.

Marshall, who is in her second year with the Warriors, said it feels great to win the provincial title, but it wasn’t easy.

“It was very nerve-racking,” said the 13-year-old Grade 8 student from Cornwall. “The shootout was very intense, along with the game, too.” 

Marshall said her approach, as the pressure mounted throughout the game and shootout, was to maintain a steady focus while staying loose in the “very cold” conditions.

“I was just jumping up and down to keep myself warm and trying to get myself ready,” said Marshall.

Bell praised the play of MacIsaac, who was participating in a shootout for the first time and delivered clutch saves throughout the game.

“We are really proud of her,” said Bell. “It was a tough situation for anyone, especially a young goalie.”

Emily Sands, who is in her third year of coaching at East Wiltshire, said it feels great to win the gold medal after silver-medal performances the previous two years.

“I’m really, really proud of them, and they worked so hard,” said Sands. “Through practice and every game, they put a full effort in, and it showed (Tuesday). 

“I believe their positive mindset, and the way they worked together as a team, is what got them that gold-medal.”

Bronze Medal

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – Abby Larkin scored two goals to lead the Stonepark Tigers to a 5-0 win over the Birchwood Cobras in the bronze-medal game of the P.E.I. School Athletic Association Intermediate Girls Field Hockey League at the UPEI turf field on Tuesday.

Lydia Doyle, Alyssa Perry and Darcy Reardon also scored for the Tigers.

Kaelyn Doyle recorded the shutout.

Larkin was named the Tigers’ player of the game. Molly MacNeill was selected Stonepark’s player of the game.

Jason Simmonds is the sports reporter for The Guardian. Twitter.com/JpsportsJason