The Sacred Heart girls' soccer team competed at the Saskatchewan High School Provincial Championships this past weekend in Regina.
The Saints were matched up against their Provincial rival the Saskatoon Bishop Mahoney Saints in the semi-final. Bishop Mahoney were out for revenge in a rematch of last year's Provincial Final.
This game started out fast and physical with both sides applying pressure. Bishop Mahoney was able to open the scoring on a nice passing place late in the first half, followed by a quick second goal to take a 2-0 lead into half time.
The second half started out much the same as the first half with Bishop Mahoney bending the twine for a 3-0 lead.
The Saints players continued to play hard and apply pressure and with about 20 minutes left in the second half Kendra Varjassy cut the Saskatoon lead to 3-1 on a nice feed from Bryce Sherring.
Sacred Heart continued to pressure Bishop Mahoney but could not beat the Saskatoon keeper again, resulting in a 3-1 Sacred Heart defeat.
This result placed the Lady Saints in the Bronze Medal game against Regina Luther.
The Saints came out firing and applying all kinds of pressure for the entire game against their Regian counterparts.
The Saints offence kept moving the ball forward and the Saints defence was holding strong, not allowing the Luther club to create any scoring chances.
Justine Zarowny opened the scoring on a nice pass from Kendra Varjassy midway through the first half to lead 1-0 midway through the game.
The Saints did not let up on their attack and with about 20 minutes left in the contest Bryce Sherring, on a breakaway feed from Kendra Varjassy, gave the Saints a 2-0 lead.
The Saints went on to the 2-0 victory with Breanne Gelowitz earning her fourth shutout of the season and making the Lady Saints Provincial bronze medalists.
It was a great way to cap off the successful season for the Saints soccer team.
Boys' soccer
The Sacred Heart Saints boys' soccer team was also in Provincial action this past weekend; just one year after failing to qualify for the Provincial tournament in 2013.
The boys traveled to Warman to battle seven other teams for the right to be named the 2014 2A Provincial champions.
Sacred Heart's first game of the Provincial draw say them take on the host Warman club. A relentless offensive attack saw the top seeded Saints quickly do away with the eighth ranked Warman side, dropping the hosts unceremoniously from the Provincials with a 13-3 victory.
Ben Fetsch led all Saints in scoring in the game with a hattrick while both Jake Holinaty and Nathan Cochrane had a pair of goals.
Zack Kostersky, Andrew Witwicki, Liam Poole, Andrey Yakiwchuk, Stephen Oleskiw and Austin Thomas also found the back of the net in the Friday morning win.
With the win the Saints advanced to the semi-finals where they took on the fifth ranked Regina Christian Grizzlies, who had previously upset fourth seeded Se Se Wa Hum in their first round game.
The Grizzlies proved to be a tougher test for the Saints squad. However a trio of goals, one each by Fetsch, Cochrane and Christian Smith, gave the Saints a 3-1 victory and a spot in the Provincial finals against sixth ranked Lake Lenore, who had earlier knocked off both the third seeded Regina Martin and second ranked Moose Jaw Central Cyclones with shutout victories.
Sacred Heart became the third team in the tournament to fall victim to Lake Lenore's suffocating defence. The Saints came out flat in the final, allowing the Lancers an opportunity to put two shots past Zack Shearer.
This woke the Saints up, however the damage was already done as Lake Lenore played with seven defenders back and thwarted each and every Saint attack throughout the game resulting in a 2-0 loss and a silver medal for the Sacred Heart Saints.
Co-coaches Scott Hoffort and Jeanne Fetsch would like to thank everyone for a great season and would also like to congratulate the three graduating players, Jake Holinaty, Andrey Yakiwchuk and Liam Poole, for all of their hard work and determination on and off the pitch.
