The Bridgman Cup brings together the best high school field hockey teams in the province. Competition in this tournament is fierce. Teams enter this tournament to test themselves. This is the reason that the Collingwood coaches and players give up a huge portion of their Thanksgiving weekend each year.
This year proved to be no different for the Cavs. Coming off an impressive 3rd place finish last year in the Bridgman, the talented squad had high hopes. Collingwood got off to an impressive start to the tournament but in the end a lack of scoring was to cost them. Despite some impressive performances where they dominated play, the Cavs finished 8th.
Collingwood finished 2nd in their pool after a win 2-1 win over Kelowna Secondary(KSS) and two 1-1 ties versus Carson Graham and Oak Bay. In the KSS game, Maddie Connell scored both goals. After being down 1-0 at half, this was a big win to kick off the tournament.
In the Carson game, it was Grade 10 rookie Liz McMullin that provided the scoring. Liz scored on a 'beautiful' reverse sweep shot. Unfortunately, Carson scored five minutes later to tie the game.
A win over Oak Bay would have provided the Cavs with top position in their pool. And speaking of pools, that's what the field essentially turned into after torrential rain fell throughout the game. Nisha Mainra scored for Collingwood, but both teams struggled to perform with the playing surface covered in standing water.
The tie against Oak Bay meant that Collingwood faced the always tough Cowichan team in their quarterfinal. After Cowichan took a 2-0 lead on a pair of terrific goals, the Cavs stormed back. Maddie scored her third goal of the tournament off a penalty stroke. Despite the loss, Coach Underwood was raving about the team's outstanding play throughout the game.
Day 3 was a bit of a disappointment for the Cavs. They would be shut-out 1-0 by both Shawnigan Lake and Francis Kelsey. Although Collingwood controlled play in both these games for large periods of time, they could not find their scoring touch. Despite this, the coaching staff was very pleased with the team's performance. The girls played six tough games all against top AAA teams and the Cavs had a chance to win every game.
Things don't get any easier for Collingwood this week as they head out to UBC on Thursday to play many of the same teams in the UBC tournament. The Cavs are the defending champions.
A lack of scoring punch hurt the Cavs this weekend, but having Nat Dalton in net means that you're always in the game. Nat was outstanding as usual.