Members of the Merritt Secondary School junior and senior girls’ soccer teams can be forgiven for resting their heads on their desks in class on occasion. It’s been quite a fortnight of action for the pair of Panther squads.
In a span of just 11 days, from April 17 to 27, the two teams played a combined total of 15 games between them.
If the pair of MSS teams were separate entities, the work load might be considered tolerable, but they’re not. The senior girls’ side has just eight Grade 11 and 12 players — not nearly enough to field a starting 11, yet alone allow for any substitutions.
As a result, members of the junior girls’ squad have been consistently called up to fill out the senior roster on a rotating basis. The older girls are being forced to play big minutes; their younger teammates lots of games.
Add in the inevitable run of injuries that take individuals out of the lineup and you’ve got 20 or so ‘Energizer’ players that are being asked to just keep going and going and going.
While the senior girls’ team is still looking for their first win in North Zone league play, the squad has enjoyed considerable success in tournament action.
The April 18 weekend saw the Panthers go 2-2 in a two-day event in Osoyoos to finish fifth overall. One week later, at their own Test of Mettle Invitational, a revolving MSS senior/junior team went 3-2-1 to wind up fourth in the 11-team tourney.
Guy Dugas, co-coach of the Merritt senior side along with Mo Ollek, said that his team has played incredibly well despite having to field players as young as Grade 8.
“We’re very pleased with the progress that we’re making. We’re still experimenting with some of our formations. We’ve outplayed a lot of other teams, and had lots of opportunities, but we just can’t seem to put the ball in the net.”
An April 20th doubleheader in Kamloops was a good case in point. The senior Panthers were the better team against Valleyview in their opener, but just couldn’t finish. They lost 2-0.
“We hit a post, a crossbar and missed on a penalty shot,” Dugas said. “[Valleyview] had a couple of chances and made good on them.”
The MSS coach said there are a lot of positives to take out of every game, too. He is very impressed with the performance of his midfielders — Sabrina Samra and Brandi Boyko.
“The girls are communicating well, and showing strong leadership.”
Dugas is also delighted with the effort of the youthful junior players who have been called upon to assume important roles.
“Right now, we are using Kerragan Selman (Grade 9) in net, and Makyla Cooke and Logan Moorhead (a pair of Grade 8s) heavily on defence. They’ve performed very well.”
The MSS senior Panthers were scheduled to play their final regular league game against the Sa-Hali Sabres on Wednesday of this week. The outcome of the contest was not available by press time.
Merritt Secondary begins its West Zone playoffs.
“If we can win our first round game, we’re guaranteed a spot in the Okanagans,” Dugas said.
Meanwhile, on Monday of this week, the MSS junior girls, with several key players being rested for Wednesday’s senior game, hosted Valleyview and Westsyde. Despite a spirited effort, the Panthers fell to their more experienced opponents by a pair of 4-0 scores.
