For the first time in almost a decade, Belmont girls soccer team is playing in provincials. The senior team starts tomorrow in what will be an uphill battle to get out of their division.
“Realistically, if we finish in the middle of the pack we will have done well,” said the club’s long time coach Lloyd Powell. “But when these girls play the kind of game they’re capable of they could finish higher than that.”
Belmont earned its place in the B.C.s after placing third in the Island championships, held earlier this month in Campbell River.
“For me, it wasn’t unexpected. They’re a very strong group of soccer players,” Powell said, noting that the team has benefited from players being involved with the Victoria Highlanders organization, which actively develops young talent for its men’s and women’s elite teams.
Belmont starts its provincial tourney Thursday morning against Kitsilano at the Newton Athletic Park in Surrey.
That afternoon, the West Shore school plays South Delta and then Mt. Boucherie on Friday. It’s a tough division, says coach Powell, who won’t be able to attend the tournament. Co-coach Nicole Mann will guide the team.
If Belmont is to win, they’ll need to keep getting solid goaltending from Maddie Creasey.
“She did a great job for us in net,” Powell said. “You need a strong keeper to do well.”
Big things are also expected from Grade 11 mid-fielder Kristen Livingstone as well as her sister, Grade 10 striker Marisa Livingstone.
“I could name half a dozen girls who have done really well for us,” Powell said.
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