The Sacred Heart Saints girls' soccer team competed in the annual Moose Jaw Soccerfest this past weekend.
A total of 16 teams participated with many of the top teams in the Province being represented.
The first day of competition consisted of three round-robin games to determine the pool standings for Saturday's playoff rounds.
Sacred Heart opened the tournament against pre-tournament favorite Regina LeBoldus. This game saw the strong LeBoldus team use their strength for a 12-0 victory over the Saints.
The second game of the tournament pitted the Saints up against yet another perennial powerhouse club, this time from Swift Current.
The Saints team put in yet another good effort but were once again unable to find the twine, falling to ladies from Swift Current 9-0.
The final round robin game on Friday was against Estevan, which would determine the final placing in the round robin. This time the Saints came out strong, taking control early before going on to victory by a score of 11-0. Allison Berge led the scoring for the Saints in this game with six goals while Kendra Varjassy added three goals. Brooke Vranai and Michelle Ostafie also found the back of the net against Estevan with one each while keeper Breanne Gelowitz recorded the shutout.
This victory placed the Saints third in their pool and set up a first round playoff game with Notre Dame on Saturday morning. The playoff game was a back and forth affair which seen Notre Dame take an early lead only for Kendra Varjassy to respond not long after to tie the game up for the Saints.
However Notre Dame continued to press and took a 4-1 lead midway through the second half before the Saints responded in quick succession as Justine Zarowny put three past the Hounds netminder to tie the game at four.
With less than five minutes remaining in the second half a questionable foul was called inside the Saints penalty area leading to Notre Dame notching the winning goal on a penalty kick for a hard fought 5-4 victory over the Saints.
This result left the Saints matched up against the Moose Jaw Peacock in their final game of the tournament.
Once again the Saints got off to a slow start with Moose Jaw opening the scoring only to see Kendra Varjassy tie the game a short time later. Just like the previous game the opposition took a 4-1 lead into the second half and just like the last game the Saints battled back, tying the game at five just before the end of regulation meaning penalty kicks were determined to decide the winner.
Unfortunately for the Saints the Moose Jaw club was able to pull out the victory. Zarowny once again had a strong game, leading the way for the Saints with three goals while Ostafie and Varjassy adding single markers.
Next action for the Saints is this coming weekend in Prince Albert.
