It was an impressive beginning to this Ontario Cup semi-final with both teams being lead onto the field by the officials, everybody standing for our national anthem, each player introduced, each coach, manager and official introduced, it was a proud moment for all.
Dixie didn’t waste any time, attacking the Barrie net, Barrie’s defence forcing Dixie to take long shots, keeping Lauren busy. Fifteen minutes in, the Barrie began to challenge the Dixie net more, Jen with a close one, waking the Dixie keeper. Suddenly Dixie’s #9 scored the first goal with a breakaway. The game continued with Barrie working hard to equalize, they
did when Danielle broke away, shot to her left and beat the goalie to make
it 1-1, you could hear the Barrie fans for miles. A few minutes later Dixie was in the lead again. Dixie in possession, making play after play on the Barrie net scored their third goal to end the first half.
Now Barrie was on the attack, a beautiful through ball from Lynlee set Danielle up nicely to beat the keeper and score making it 3-2 and keeping Barrie’s hopes alive. The Barrie team looked tired, the two injured players on the bench didn’t help. Dixie on the attack, scoring one after the other, brought this game to a painful end.
I can only imagine how the girls felt, the anger, the frustration etc etc, chalk it up to experience, if it doesn’t kill you, it can only make you stronger so lets take a deep breath and show this Unionville who we are on Wednesday night.
7 minutes in to the game, Danielle had a chance but the keeper managed to clear it. Minutes later Oakville returned the pressure with a close one just over the bar. Possession went from team to team with no finish.Oakville was on the attack keeping Sam busy ( a good addition to this defence ) with another close call from a cross to an Oakville striker, volleying to the net, just over the bar, Whew!!
On a breakaway, Juli moved in from the left, beat a defender and with a nice little pause, surprised Oakville with a cross to Alana, who tapped it home, giving Barrie a 1 – 0 lead. The lead didn’t last long when Oakville’s #3 scored the equilizer.
Barrie came out looking stronger in the second half when Alana’s through ball to Kristen, who crossed it over for a header by Kamiya, it’s a corner for Barrie, Courtney takes it, Jen got her right foot to it, but wasn’t to be.
From a corner kick Oakville took the lead, 2 – 1. After lots of pressure on Barrie, suddenly a breakaway which left just Danielle and the keeper. Danielle deeked to left but just couldn’t a good shot away, Soooooo!! Close. Danielle’s response to an interview was NO COMMENT. Lots of chances for Barrie with nice moves from Claire to Jen to Danielle, good runs and crosses from Erin but couldn’t finish. Barrie looked determined to equalize, but, the final whistle blew.
I.B.
The challenges in this game for Barrie were to adapt to different field and weather conditions, and to cope with a very speedy and tenacious American team. The game was played on artificial turf and with a very strong wind blowing straight up the field, and the result was two very different halves of soccer. Barrie had the wind at their back in the first half, but play was tentative in the early going, as the players struggled to deal with the speed of the ball rolling on the artificial turf, and the impact of the wind on long balls. An early lapse in communication between goalkeeper and defender gave Toledo an easy tap-in goal, and it proved to be all they needed to secure the win. The balance of the first was reasonably even, with neither team seriously threatening to change the scoreline. The second half was very much a different game. The Americans used their speed and skills to complement the wind advantage they enjoyed. For the first 25 minutes of the half, Barrie was under constant pressure in their own half, as they struggled to play into the wind. But solid goalkeeping and some erratic shooting by Toledo resulted in a clean scoresheet for the second half. The final 15 minutes of the game was more promising for Barrie, as they stepped up their defensive play and began to deal with the wind more effectively. There were a few controlled forays down the field, but in the end, there was nothing to show for it.
G.B.
BARRIE SPIRIT 0 - 1 GREATER TOLEDO FC.
Game MVP :
Kate B.
BARRIE SPIRIT 2 - 2 UNIONVILLE
Another game played on artificial turf, with more pleasant weather conditions, and Barrie looked much the more poised and confident team. Hard work and better linkages between the defenders and the midfield led to some good early pressure for Barrie, and successful results. Jenn S. finished off some controlled play by Barrie with a long-range shot that found the back corner of the goal, over the stretching keeper. The Spirit continued to carry much of the play as the first half progressed, and generally handled the occasional Unionville counter-attacks with relative ease. But one lapse in the defensive shape of the team in their own end let Unionville back into the contest, and the half finished in a 1-1 tie. Barrie stepped up their play in the second half, and showed some of the best form of the weekend, as they consistently were able to bring the ball out of their own end and apply strong pressure on the Unionville defense, particularly down the left side. The efforts were rewarded 10 minutes into the half, when Courtney P. hammered in a loose ball from the middle of the 18 yard box. But Barrie could not find a killer instinct to really put the game away, and the intensity of their play began to fade as the half wore on. Unionville attacks seemed to be pretty much under control with a solid defensive formation, until an unattended midfielder got on the end of a fairly innocent looking cross, and hit a first –time volley into the goal from the top of the 18. That gave Barrie a new sense of immediacy, and they dominated the final few minutes of play, but could not find another way to score, and grab a win they should have had.
G.B.
Burlington Cobras
Aurora Stingers
Goalscorer :
Game MVP :
Jennifer S. ; Courtney P.
Jennifer S. ; Courtney P.
3 1 0 2 4 5 3 - 1
3 2 0 1 5 3 6 + 2
Barrie Spirit 2 - 3 Burlington Cobras
SATURDAY JUNE 2
Aurora Sting. 4 - 1 Newmarket York Utd.
MSC Falcons 2 - 3 OSU Force 90
SUNDAY JUNE 3
Barrie Spirit 1 - 0 OSU Force 90
MSC Falcons 0 - 2 Barrie Spirit
ONTARIO CUP
Toronto
Etobicoke Centennial Park - "A"
July 14-15, 2007
Tournament Round
GROUP 4
GP W T L gf ga Pts
JULY 14, 2007
JULY 15, 2007
Barrie Spirit 0 - 0 MSC Falcons
Barrie Spirit
Newmarket York Utd.
Oakville Wild
Darlington 0 - 1 Oakville Wild
Oakville Wild 2 - 0 Aurora Stingers
Burlington Cobras 0 - 1 Darlington
Newmarket Y. Utd. 1 - 7 Barrie Spirit
Darlington 6 - 0 Newmarket York Utd.
Barrie Spirit 1 - 0 Oakville Wild
Aurora Stingers 0 - 2 Burlington Cobras
Darlington 1 - 0 Burlington
SEMI FINALS
Barrie Spirit 3 - 0 Oakville
FINAL
Barrie Spirit 0 - 1 Darlington
3 2 0 1 10 4 6 + 6
3 2 0 1 3 1 6 + 2
3 0 2 1 2 4 2
Back
3 0 0 3 2 17 0 - 15
BARRIE SPIRIT 2 - 3 BURLINGTON COBRAS
It looked like Barrie held the reins in this game with most of the play at the Burlington end. After 20 minutes and several attempts Danielle scored a solid goal. With just minutes to go in the first half, with a long ball over the Barrie defense a Burlington striker had just the goalie to beat. Tristen cut off her angle but the Burlington striker pushed it past to tie the game. Dang!! 30 seconds into the second half, Erin made one of her speedy runs up the right wing, took a long shot and scored in top left corner. Minutes later, even though Burlington looked offside, equalized to make it 2 – 2. Barrie came back with one near miss after another. With another big kick from the Burlington goalie, over the Barrie defense, Tristen was forced to make a run to challenge the Burlington striker but didn’t make it in time, 3 – 2 for Burlington.
I.B.
Goalscorer :
Danielle G. ; Erin B.
NEWMARKET 1 - 7 BARRIE SPIRIT
BARRIE SPIRIT 1 - 0 OAKVILLE
Barrie dominated this game allowing Lauren to play up front. Brenna started the goal scoring with a pass from Alana, Courtney cut the ball in from the left to Erin who “tucked it away” to the left side, Lauren stole it away
from the keeper to score the third, Brenna and Danielle set up Lauren for the fourth. Newmarket’s Erica #7 broke away to score their only goal. Lauren passed back to Kristen to score Barrie’s fifth, from 20yds out Jen scored a nice one and for the seventh goal, Courtney scored. Whew!! It was nice to see Barrie’s defenders have a relatively stress free game.
I.B.
Goalscorer :
Lauren M. x2 ; Brenna B. ; Erin B. ; Kristen G. ;
Jennifer S. ; Courtney P.
Goalscorer :
Courtney P.
It took a while for both teams to adjust to this dew covered field with the ball slipping across the surface. Both teams came on strong sharing possession equally. After 20 minutes of this, a frustrated Oakville defender gave Barrie a penalty kick, Courtney took the shot with a seemingly effortless shot to the top left corner. Barrie looked strong with their defense and midfield setting up many plays for Juli, Danielle, Kate and Courtney. Barrie almost made it 2 – 0 with a beautiful corner kick from Jen to Kamiya, heading it just past the left post. As Courtney challenged an Oakville midfielder she landed badly on her ankle causing her excruciating pain, landed in hospital. A special thanks to those who helped support Courtney’s ankle and make her comfortable.
X rays showed no broken bones, Great.
After many more attempts on the Oakville goal the final whistle blew.
I.B.
BARRIE SPIRIT 3 - 0 OAKVILLE
Goalscorer :
Danielle G.
After 3 games of making runs, challenging and deeking defenders over and over with only one goal to show for it, this was Danielle’s game. The Barrie midfielders held their position well, keeping possession, making nice little give and go’s, switching the ball, creating set up after set up for strikers, Kristen made a nice pass to Danielle to score a certain goal. Danielle moves in again, beating a defender sent it to the back of the net “she’s on a roll” and for the hat trick she took advantage of miscommunication between the keeper and a defender to tap it home. Barrie maintained control except for one close call where Kate cleared the ball from the goal line.
I.B.
DARLINGTON 1 - 0 BARRIE SPIRIT
Opportunities were many created by Barrie’s solid defense and controlled
midfield. Clair gave Jen a nice shot and then Alana passed back to Jen for
another, Kamiya tried a long shot from a free kick and with 20 minutes in, still no threat to Barrie’s goal. Erin moved in from the right with a shot, hit the bottom of the crossbar. 25 minutes into the game Barrie had their first threat on net, Lauren made the save followed by a corner kick, saved again. “You can’t do this to us girls” Now Alana takes a nice shot, the keeper just touches it clear, too bad. Erin sent it to the middle where Kristen took her shot, just over the bar to finish the first half.
The second half began with Darlington being more aggressive. A corner kick for Darlington, deflected off a Barrie player, over Lauren and in, demoralizing the Barrie team, what a fluke. The remainder of the game was
Darlington winning most challenges, keeping possession and pounding the Barrie goal.
I must admit, judging by the Barrie teams warm-ups we were in trouble, E,or
in Whinnie the Pooh looked more enthusiastic, but they surprised me, they came on strong. Kristen setting up Danielle, Danielle couldn’t get a clear shot switched it to Courtney on the left who had a nice shot then Alana came in attacking with another nice shot even though she was sandwiched and brought down by two defenders. It looked like the Ottawa Force had taken their nasty pills, lots of clutching and grabbing, attacking from behind
and pushing every opportunity with or without the ball, but the referee didn’t seem to mind. The Barrie team took the abuse and kept their composure, much to the frustration of the Ottawa players and coach. Thirty minutes in, Barrie was still the attacking force, Danielle took control pushing through two defenders, shot, rebounded, shot and rebounded again, Alana was there to take advantage, she shoots she scores, 1-0 Barrie.
Ottawa came on for the second half even nastier, holding Barrie in their own end. Barrie determined not to lose their lead, held on, only just. After about twenty minutes of this, Barrie came back to dominate the game again with shots from Clair, Kristen and Erin. Finally the referee found his disciplinary cards and issued two yellows to Ottawa within three minutes. Barrie not only won this game, they did it with their dignity intact.
A scoreless game with Barrie creating lots of plays, but just couldn’t finish one. By all accounts it appears that the Barrie is back, with all hands on deck.
Ian B.
OTAWA SOUTH UNITED Force 90 1 - 1 BARRIE SPIRIT
Ottawa took the lead early two minutes into the game, leaving Barrie with a “ WHAT HAPPENED “ moment, Tristen had no chance. Barrie continued to
scramble to defend their goal. Ottawa continued to attack with many shots,one, just over the bar but couldn’t penetrate for a second goal. About
40minutes into this aggressive game (I’m being nice here ) Brenna took a hit in a tackle re-injuring her right foot, she was replaced by Kate, ten seconds later Kate tied the game with a gutsy header to the back of the net, what a goal. The first half ended with Barrie in control.
Both teams fought hard in the second half to gain the lead, both keepers making great saves but neither team could finish a play, what a tough game.
What a different game this was compared to the last one, both teams just as determined to win, but to do so the way game supposed to be played. Even the atmosphere on the spectator’s side was a breath of fresh air. Barrie dominated at the beginning, a shot from Jen, a corner from Jen, then
another, the pressure was on Mississauga, Barrie was winning the 50/50 balls. Danielle took control, beat three defenders, shot to the left and scored to make it 1-0 twelve minutes in. Barrie’s three defenders held their line well, Sam with a long throw and passed to Alana for a run, she took a shot, was close. A Mississauga midfielder lost possession to Kate then Kate beat two defenders, broke away, shot to the left, scored for her second goal of the tournament 2-0. It’s Mississauga’s turn for a corner kick, it was high and dangerous in the 6yd box, Lauren jumps, reaches and touches, now a loose ball in front of the net, the Mississauga strikers were all over it, finally it was cleared, whew! Tristen took over in net as Lauren landed badly on her shoulder. In the remaining five minutes of the first half, Barrie did most of the attacking, Erin passed to Danielle, Danielle broke away with a powerful shot but well saved and just before the whistle Alana took a shot.
Mississauga came on strong to start the second half. Both teams moving the ball well, stringing several passes at a time. Jen’s nice through ball gave Brittany a shot, Kate’s corner kick gave Jen a chance, both keepers working hard to protect their turf, now Courtney has an opportunity, she shoots, aaaaand, over the bar, what a look on her face ( the awkward smile ), instantly Naim pulled her off and replaced her with Kamiya ( I think that was the plan anyway but the timing was impeccable ).
I’d loved to have been on the bench for that one.
A good clean game.
I.B.
ONTARIO CUP
UNIONVILLE 1 - 2 BARRIE SPIRIT
August 12, 2007
QUARTER FINAL
Goalscorer :
Julie K. ; Danielle G.
SEMI FINAL
BARRIE SPIRIT 2 - 8 DIXIE SAINTS
August 26, 2007
UNIONVILLE - Berzcy Centre
OSHAWA - Civic Stadium @ 12:00
Barrie kicked off and immediately lost possession; we just couldn’t string two passes together. The Barrie team’s tenacious nature saved us in the first half, for every mistake there was a valiant effort to recover.
Unionville’s #6 threatening the Barrie goal early in the game, giving both Kamiya and Meghan a challenge and for every shot on net there was a brilliant save by Lauren. It is worth while noting that Unionville’s #6 seems to have the freedom to attack from any side she wishes possibly disrupting Barrie’s defence. Up front, Barrie had some opportunities, the Jen and Courtney free kick just over the bar, Danielle and Erin working hard to break the Unionville defence, Brenna’s throw in to Danielle for a shot, over the bar.
Barrie needed to retrieve their game happened three minutes into the second half when Juli, with a nice run up the right wing, took a long shot, over the keeper and into the back of the net, WOW!. The Barrie fans erupting. Unionville reacted with attack after attack, Barrie giving Unionville the room but once again recovered, Courtney shot wide then Danielle shot, took advantage of a fumble, beat the keeper to the ball, shot from a tight angle, SCORED, 2-0 Barrie. Barrie now moving the ball well, looking more confident but Unionville were not to give up, made a nice play in front of the Barrie net and with a hard shot scored to increase the pulse rate of the Barrie crowd, 2-1. Barrie hung on for the win. This Unionville team always impresses me, apart from a few minor weaknesses they have the potential to do well in this league as we do, lets be ready for them in the next game.
