4 games in just over 24 hours - what a weekend. The high temperatures of Saturday didn’t seem to dampen the teams’ spirits. With Sunday’s cooler temps and the adrenaline of knowing it was their final match, they showed up with renewed vigor and gave Nanaimo quite the showing. This weekend also marks one year since Reid Davidson's passing, and Harbourside’s players played hard in his memory.
Harbourside has now completed their second ever regular League1 BC season and are thrilled to be sending the men’s team to playoffs. The women fought hard and developed exponentially as a unit to bring in some sweet successes the second half of the season to end in 6th place.
Gilliane Stewardson, Harbourside's female player of the year. @marytookaphoto
The women were on fire against TSS on Saturday! Definitely some of their finest soccer to date. These ladies know how to finish on a high. Taiya Scorey was breaking ankles left, right and center. Her determination, grittiness, and fine ball-handling skills led to countless opportunities in the final third. Erin Jensen and Ruby Nicholas were connecting on another level! Nicholas would send Jensen down the line to the corner, where she would deliver a wicked cross. Nicholas was on the receiving end of one of these crosses, and made the best of a messy skirmish in the box, scoring the team’s second goal of the game. Nicholas was a menace on the wing and also delivered a mean cross herself to Meghan Linegar, who scored the team’s first goal within the first five minutes. An incredible game from an incredible group of gals who have been working hard to prove themselves all season.
“In today’s game we came out as a different team and had a lot of fun out there. The first half of the game we dominated. It was an unfortunate bounce that led to their goal, but we knew we were the better team out there.”
Said goalkeeper Kaiden Thorpe following the ladies’ game against Unity FC on Sunday. For the entire first half, Harbourside gave Unity’s backline a run for their money. Ruby Nicholas has wheels and she was using them. She and Tannis McKay on the wing were a deadly duo and caused Unity quite a bit of grief. They made countless attacks and also showcased top notch defending as a pair on the wing. Taiya Scorey and Emma Skalik dominated the middle and controlled the field with Meghan Linegar and Gilliane Stewardson. The ladies defended well as units, and pounced repeatedly together to win the ball back. Centreback Mary Nicholls provided a confident start to a lot of the team's attacks and showcased great leadership through her communication on the field.
Assistant coach Aja Choy-Halo commented on the weekend:
“We couldn’t be more thrilled with the win [on Saturday]! The girls deserved the 3 points after executing their scoring opportunities and putting away 2 quality goals.
Today in the match against Unity, the girls controlled a lot of the play and unfortunately conceded a goal later in the game. Overall proud of the 3 point weekend. Their commitment and efforts this past season have been top notch - a very special group of players!”
The men’s assistant coach John George stepped in as an extra coach for the ladies and was on the bench with them all weekend. “They are an amazing group of ladies with great synergy and are fun to work with. Can’t wait to see what they're going to do next season.”
Suka Behery, Harbourside's male athlete of the year. @marytookaphoto
As Wyatt Lyon said, “We did what we needed to do.” After a weekend of games, the men’s team have secured fourth place and their position in the playoffs. This is the first time ever a Harbourside team has qualified for playoffs. What a success!
Billy Bagiopolous and Suka Behery put on a goal-scoring clinic against TSS on Saturday. In combination with Charlie Purcell’s ability to be everywhere and his composure, the trio were an attacking machine that stressed TSS’s backline. Harbourside’s rock-solid defense, and brick-wall midfield didn’t allow much to pass through and kept it a clean slate. Pretty impressive against the league’s highest scoring team! TSS scored 30 goals this season but the lads were close behind with 25, making them the second highest scoring team. Billy was the league’s leading scorer, with 12 goals to his name. 12 goals in 11 games. Wow!
On Sunday, the roster switched up significantly. Two games in a row takes its toll on players but offers an awesome opportunity to give all the lads a chance to get on the field. While they dominated the first half, Unity managed to score twice quickly in the second half. Both teams were fading by the 85th minute, and after a weekend of action, Harbourside didn’t have the oomph to get the two goals back. Despite the loss, the men were in high spirits! They did what they set out to do this season and will be back on the pitch for their first play-off game on Friday at Swangard.
The Unity match was a special one for jersey 23. Recently signed to the team, Charlie Smith is 18 and this was his first men’s league game. He was in the starting eleven, and within 30 minutes, had a goal to his name! Goalkeeper Callum Weir excitedly gave us the play by play:
“Charlie strips the ball off a very experienced defender, expertly, paces past him, and just slots it calmly past the goalkeeper. Bang.”
As announcer Jason Coates noted, “he did well to maintain his balance with a defender on his back. He made full use of his opportunity.” Hopefully we see more from this youngster in the future!
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