The weather might be getting colder, but competition is just heating up at the tail end of the 2019 high-school girls’ soccer season.
With playoffs taking place in mid-October, all four of Airdrie’s teams are battling it out in their respective leagues.
In Division 4 of the Calgary Senior High School Athletic Association (CSHSAA), the St. Martin de Porres Kodiaks currently sits in sixth place with two regular-season fixtures left. The top eight teams in the division qualify for the post-season, which kicks off Oct. 10 and wraps up Oct 21.
“I’m feeling really good and positive, moving forward,” said coach Jessica Hamilton. “The girls are positive and I think they just want to get better.”
After four games, the Kodiaks boasts a 1-1-2 record in league play.
“There are some really strong teams in our division – three teams have already scored over 20 goals each in the first three games, so that kind of shows the differences in ability,” Hamilton said.
The Kodiaks’ most recent outing was a hard-fought 1-1 draw at home against the Robert Thirsk Comets, Sept. 26, with St. Martin’s goal coming from Fadimata Kagnassi.
“We were two evenly-matched teams, skill-wise, and it was a real opportunity for the girls to show the improvement they’ve had since day one,” Hamilton said.
If the recent snow has melted enough for games to go ahead, the Kodiaks will conclude its regular season Oct. 3 and Oct. 7, with a road game against the St. Timothy Thunder in Cochrane, and a home date with the Bishop McNally Timberwolves.
According to Hamilton, confidence and communication will be the team’s focus for those games, which are both set to start at 4:30 p.m.
“It’s coming, but we’re a quiet team, so working on that confidence [will result] in that communication piece that we need to keep the moving the ball down the field,” she said.
In the Rocky View Sports Association, Bert Church is Airdrie’s top team, as of Oct. 1, with a 2-1-2 record. The third-place Chargers’ most recent game was a 4-0 loss Sept. 26 to the unbeaten Cochrane Cobras, but prior to that, Bert Church had enjoyed a 3-1 win over the Chestermere Lakers Sept. 24.
W.H. Croxford, meanwhile, is following closely in the Chargers’ footsteps, with a 1-1-2 record that puts the team in fourth. Croxford is set to face the first-place Springbank Phoenix Oct. 3 at Monklands Park at 4:30 p.m.
At the bottom of the table, George McDougall is still looking for its first win and hasn’t scored in three matches. The seventh-place Mustangs' most recent battle was another disappointing result, as George McDougall was shut out 6-0 by the Bow Valley Bobcats, Sept. 26 in Cochrane.
The final games of the RVSA regular season are set for Oct. 7. Following that, the six-team playoffs will begin Oct. 8 and 10. The gold-medal and bronze-medal games will be held Oct. 15 at 4:30 p.m. at Monklands Park.
