CANMORE – Usually after a sports team wins the big championship, the burning question the following year is if they have what it takes to run it back once more.
Facing that exact scenario are the Canmore Wolverines soccer girls, which judging by the high school team’s recent span of wins – or clobberings, the phrases are interchangeable – chances are they have bought their tickets for a ride to repeat city.
The Strathcona-Tweedsmuir Spartans were the latest to be unceremoniously tossed aside by the hometown girls, losing 8-1 on Tuesday (Sept. 24) at Millennium Field.
Airi Watai scored a hat trick, Autumn Bryant and Mary Huggill each found the back of the net twice and Meg Kobayashi kicked in one goal.
Now 3-0, the Wolverines are finding success with keep away defence, crisp passing, and of course, a swarming attack and awesome firepower.
“As a team, we work together really well and we try to motivate each other a lot,” said Huggill, team captain and midfielder. “Whenever somebody does something good, everyone cheers and … I think that drives everyone and makes everyone work really hard.”
In three games, the defending zone champions have outscored opponents by a whopping 22-1 goal margin.
Huggill, who has a rocket for a shot, has scored seven times this season and said there are a few reasons they don’t slow down the offence in a game, namely to not give the other team the opportunity to come back. However, she said the big leads so far haven’t affected motivation levels and she thinks the girls can keep up the high-volume production.
“It’s almost like, when we’re winning by that much, everyone gets to touch the ball and pass it around a lot and just try to keep it, so I think that makes it really fun, especially when someone scores who hasn’t scored before that’s always awesome,” she said.
The Wolverines had gotten a lot of looks at the Spartans goalkeeper. Though despite the heavy dose of soccer balls giving the keeper fits, the Spartans managed to strike first in the game – the first goal against the Wolverines this season.
However, the lead lasted about as long as a single scope of ice cream under the blistering heat of a desert sun.
Before the first half ended, the hometown girls had taken a one goal lead, courtesy of scores by Bryant and Watai. When play resumed in the second half, things didn’t get any better for the Spartans, with six shots finding the back of the net.
It was almost too easy.
After losing some great players from last year’s championship team, head coach Joal Borggard said the perfect start is a result of the next generation stepping up. He’s also looking forward to stiffer challenges in the coming weeks.
“The camaraderie and the skill were there and it’s just kind of been this evolution … the more they play together, the more they grow,” said Borggard.
One major sentiment that Borggard notes about the team is that the love of the game, above all else, is obvious on the field.
“We’ve deemphasized winning and emphasized fun and the score is kind of the last thing we talk about. It seems when we do that, the girls relax and they just kind of execute,” he said.
The Wolverines’ next home game is Thursday (Sept. 26) against perennial rival the Holy Trinity Academy Knights. Kick-off is 4:30 p.m.
