Spurred by a spectacular track record this season, two local girls soccer teams are heading off to a pair of regional championship games in the coming weeks.
In their final game of the season against Parry Sound High School on Thursday, May 17, the Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes Secondary School senior girls soccer team emerged with a 6-0 victory, wrapping up their five-game season with five straight wins and no losses. The junior team also scored a 5-0 win that day, finishing their season with four wins and one loss.
Those results came just one day after the girls played Huntsville High School on Tuesday, May 15. In that game, the senior team scored a 5-1 victory, while the junior team fell by a score of 0-1 in the last 30 seconds of the game.
“It’s a little unfortunate, but they played really well.” said coach Jason Sprathoff. “They held Huntsville pretty much all game. At least they came back anyway.”
Both teams are now headed off to the Muskoka-Parry Sound Championships on Thursday, May 24 in Almaguin, followed by the Georgian Bay Secondary Schools Association Championships in Barrie on Thursday, May 31.
Sprathoff is hoping the girls will continue to press forward with the momentum they’ve achieved to date.
“I hope they do well, I’m planning for them to do well, but I guess when the day comes it depends on whether they’re ready to play,” he said.
Strong community support
Sprathoff credits the local community’s strong support for soccer with helping the girls perform as well as they have on the field.
“Huntsville and Bracebridge, probably more than any of the other communities, have a really strong soccer program,” he said. “There’s a lot of people in the community putting their time and effort into running those programs.”