A golden season

From the opening whistle, the St. Laurent girls attacked the Pointe-Claire goal using short precise passes interspersed by long crosses to confuse the opposing defense. With this constant pressure Nadia Benali and Tanysha Castello were able to score two quick goals. Meanwhile, St. Laurent’s very mobile defense kept the Pointe-Claire strikers from getting many good scoring opportunities and often catching them offside. Around the 30th minute of play in the first half, midfielder Genevieve Naud took a corner kick which careened off a Pointe-Claire defender and found its way into the net to make the score 3-0. This goal took the air out of the Pointe-Claire team which did not get more than five good scoring opportunities during the entire match. Amal Sebti rounded out the scoring, connecting on a penalty kick in the second half to make the final score 4-0.

A day earlier, in the semi-final, St. Laurent scored a 5-0 victory over the Lakeshore Pumas, champions of the Lakeshore Zone. Again, a stifling defense neutralized the Puma’s attack strategies. St. Laurent’s goalie, Caitlin Doré, swiftly took care of long balls sent towards her goal and her long kicks returned the ball to midfielders and strikers in the Pumas territory. As the game progressed, the team assumed control of the play at both ends of the pitch. Four goals were scored by the same players as Sunday’s game and were topped off by a terrific set piece on an indirect free kick executed perfectly by Geneviève Naud and Sophie Paradis. The birth in the final was secured.

The offence was spearheaded by Tamara Arias-Rivas’s 20 plus goals and complemented by important contributions from Amal Sebti, Nadia Benali, Tanysha Castello, Julia Ricci, Karine Bitton, Vanessa Sarena and the very versatile Sherina Forte-Jones who also helped out on defense from time to time. The three midfielders, Geneviève Naud, Sophie Paradis and Sarah Côté, were instrumental in producing scoring opportunities for the strikers and in reversing opponents’ breakouts. At centre, Geneviève controlled the flow of the game and also scored several key goals from the penalty area and on well placed corner kicks, while Sarah and Sophie closed down the sidelines and fed passes to the strikers that often led to great scoring chances.

Whenever the ball did cross into St. Laurent territory the stalwart defense took over. The most improved part of the team was extremely gifted at neutralizing scoring attempts. The speedy outside defenders Krystal Petersen, Davia Jeremie and Constance Psaradellis took care of chasing opposing wingers down the sidelines, while Olivia Dalati, Sandra Covone, Desiré Silcott and the very reliable Katrina Misuraca stopped many attackers cold and sealed off the middle. As usual, keeper Caitlin Doré smothered whatever balls got through and always placed the team in good field position with her long kicks. She registered shutouts in half the team’s games.

For the five years since its creation, the team has been under the direction of Coach Guillermo Rivas, who emphasizes a disciplined ball-control style of play. The trademark of his teams is a stingy defense which gives up no territory easily and plays the off-side like few other teams. This year, more than ever, the players put into practice all the lessons of past years and won the coveted 3rd Division crown.

The St. Laurent girls played under the German banner and had qualified for the final in the U15/16F category, winning the quarterfinals 4-2 over Denmark (Dorval) and the semi-finals 2-0 over Sweden (Île Bizard). They accomplished this feat during the same weekend in which they captured the Regional finals. That made it four wins in four games in one weekend!

The gold medal game was played on Sept. 30th in Dollard Park with Germany (St. Laurent) facing New Zealand (Dollard Dynamos). In the opening minutes, each team failed to capitalize on a golden scoring opportunity, with New Zealand slamming a free kick off the German crossbar. The teams then settled into a defensive stalemate in which neither offence was particularly effective. The score was 0-0 at the half. From the start of the second half, Germany began to dominate the play with relentless pressure on the Kiwi defense. In the tenth minute, keeper Caitlin Doré booted a long ball into the New Zealand half to forward Nadia Benali, who pivoted and placed a perfect through ball to Tamara Arias-Rivas on the left flank. The pass play caught the Kiwi defenders and goalie by surprise and Tamara finished it off with a strike to the corner of the net. Five minutes later, she buried another chance on a partial breakaway to give Germany a two-goal lead. The staunch German defense then took over to stifle all the New Zealand attempts to penetrate their half of the field and sealed the final 2-0 verdict. The tournament victory was the St. Laurent team’s third gold medal of the season, an achievement beyond all expectations of players, coaches and parents who have all experienced triumphs and disappointments over the last five years. Congratulations go out to the St. Laurent Champions.

(Source: Norman Doré)

Front: Krystal Petersen, Davia Jeremie, Tanysha Castello, Caitlin Doré and Amal Sebti

(Photo: Courtesy)