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Springbank Phoenix hold off Bert Church to win RVSA boys' soccer banner

Springbank coach Shaylynn Tell said it was an exciting victory for the boys, especially considering the cancellation of the two previous high-school boys' soccer seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Springbank Phoenix players hoist the RVSA trophy on June 7 after beating the Bert Church Chargers 2-1.

A title defence three years in the making came to a head for the Springbank Phoenix boys' soccer team last week. 

On June 7, the Phoenix overcame the Bert Church Chargers 2-1 in the Rocky View Sports Association (RVSA) championship game in Cochrane. The result marked a repeat of the 2019 championship game, when Springbank beat Bert Church 1-0 to claim the division banner. 

Springbank coach Shaylynn Tell said it was an exciting victory for the boys, especially considering the cancellation of the two previous high-school boys' soccer seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think having the last two years of school sport be cancelled, some of our Grade 12 boys had last played on the soccer team in Grade 9,” she said. “In Grade 10 and 11 it got taken away, so for those boys, it was super exciting because they finally got to have their chance at it.”

Toby Falodun opened the scoring for Springbank in the first half, and then Joe Cirin doubled the Phoenix's lead to 2-0 in the second half. 

Bert Church brought one back with a goal in the 75th minute, and the Airdrie team piled on the offensive pressure for the game's remaining minutes in hopes of finding an equalizer.

But Springbank's defence managed to weather the storm to secure the result. 

“The last 15 minutes, we were penned back, so anything to keep that ball away,” Tell said. “It wasn’t the prettiest soccer at the end, but definitely a strong defensive wall was what we needed.”

While most seasons would see the RVSA champion advance to the South Central Zones tournament, Tell said there was no zones tourney planned for this year, due to previous uncertainty surrounding the pandemic. 

That meant the title game against Bert Church marked Springbank's last game of the year, and Tell said it was great to go out on such a high.

In total, Springbank posted a 6-1-1 record this season. The team went pound-for-pound with Bert Church throughout the regular season, both teams finishing with a 4-1-1 record.

“We only lost one game to George McDougall and we tied one, so every other game was a win,” Tell said. “It was a really strong season for the boys. We had a few key players down for quite a few games, so for other people to step up was really awesome.”

Tell, who coached the Phoenix for the first time this year alongside fellow Springbank teacher Danielle Hughes, said the strength of the school's boys' soccer team this season came down to various factors. She said the team has a healthy number of competitive club players, and the athletes brought a positive attitude to every game and practice.

“We have a lot of awesome leaders on the team and a lot of people who are very excited to be on the field,” she said. “I think that excited energy from literally every player but also the leadership of the Grade 12 boys, the mix of that created a really happy, excited, and positive team. They were just happy to be out playing soccer.”

In other RVSA action on June 7, the Chestermere Lakers downed the George McDougall Mustangs 5-2 in Airdrie to claim the division's bronze medal. Firas Khafi was the hero for Chestermere, scoring a hat-trick in the win, while Ryan Stevenson chipped in with two goals of his own.

George McDougall's goals came from Shadrak Boakye, who scored an early penalty kick to put the Mustangs up 1-0, and Robert Lasebnik, who scored early into the second half to bring the score to 3-2. 

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