The top team in the St. Albert Women’s Soccer League has a date at provincials after shutting out their division one rivals Sunday.
Chelsey Marques and Suzanne Schulz kicked in two goals apiece and Sarah Crerar rounded out the scoring in the 5-0 decision over the Morinville Ladies (7-3) at Riel Park.
Barring a total collapse, the Mavericks (10-0) will represent SAWSL at the Tier IV provincials, Aug. 31 to Sept. 3 in Edmonton.
“It’s been our goal since day one to go to provincials. Shane [Moore], our coach, has been pushing that for us. It’s been our focus as a team right across from the back to the front of the pitch and this win sets us up really well to carry that momentum through,” said Mavericks’ captain Samantha Kinniburgh.
Two years ago the Mavericks captured the division pennant with a 17-1 record and placed fourth at provincials. It was the highest showing by a SAWSL team in the Tier IV tournament since 2005, when Morinville won bronze.
Last year Morinville finished fifth at provincials after compiling a first-place 17-0-1 record, three points ahead of the second-place 16-1-1 Mavericks.
The 2012 edition of Mavericks have averaged a division-best 5.7 goals per game and lead the league in shutouts with six.
“The depth of our talent is what our strength is,” Kinniburgh said. “We don’t really rely on just one strong forward or two strong forwards to put goals in. We have strong people all over the field, we communicate really well and we trust each other at both ends of the field.”
The second meeting of the season between the perennial pennant contenders wasn’t as close or as exciting as the June 24 first-place showdown, when the Mavericks doubled Morinville 4-2. It was 4-1 when Mel Duro posted her second goal of the game for Morinville. Christy Debienne paced the Mavericks with a pair.
“We’re a little bit more grounded in our season, compared to that first game. We have a bit more confidence as a team because we’ve been playing together that much more longer this year as a core team,” Kinniburgh said.
In the rematch, Marques tallied twice against goalkeeper Dani Lafond in the opening 24 minutes as the Mavericks dominated ball possession and territorial advantage.
An early marker by Marques set the tone for the rest of the match.
“It always helps when you get that first goal. It helps turn the game more in your favour and get that momentum going for you,” Kinniburgh said.
Schulz went upstairs on Lafond to make it 3-0 with six minutes left until halftime after Morinville sniper Suzanne Gaetz was denied a goal on a great individual effort with the ball.
The three-goal deficit flattered Morinville. Lafond was outstanding in the first half to keep the score close. The Mavericks also hit a couple of posts.
Schultz netted her second goal five minutes after the break to suck the wind out of Morinville’s sails.
With time winding down Crerar salted away a rebound.
Mavericks’ goalkeeper Krista Gordon had few saves to make as her defence shut down the dangerous one-two offensive punch of Gaetz and Duro. Gordon – a prolific scorer for Revolution FC when the Big Red Machine ruled the pitch for a brief time in the SAWSL – was recently brought on board by the Mavericks to play in net while she recovers from a knee injury. She is expected to play up front in the weeks leading up to provincials to give the already potent Mavericks’ offence a big boost.
The one-sided affair was arguably the Mavericks’ best performance of the season.
“We knew we had to come in mentally strong and play a strong and physical game, which we did,” said Kinniburgh, 29, a centre back who anchors the middle of the Mavericks’ defence alongside Alison Johannessen.
The Mavericks and Morinville close out the regular season Aug. 19. They are also favoured to meet in the division final Sept. 9.
