Zoey Duncan
The Borderland Soccer League playoffs began with surprising upsets, then ended last night with a pair of close-fought battles.
Fourth-place Taggs, which shocked top-seeded Boston Pizza in the semi-finals, couldn’t keep the momentum going, falling 2-0 to Al’s Racquet Stringing in the women’s final.
Sara Kellar and Lauren Pierce were the goal scorers while Taylor Meyers earned the shutout between the pipes.
“I actually think this was our best game of the season,” Kellar said after the game.
“It just all came together and we did awesome on every level, and it was pretty great. . . .
“We know we can score against any team, we know we have that capability, so it’s never over ’til it’s over,” Kellar added.
“We just keep that in mind and keep trucking.”
On the men’s side, the fourth-place Rendez-Vous Voyageurs, who had upset front-running Pharmasave to advance to the final, were blanked 2-0 by Manitou Forest Products.
Tanner Kaemingh backstopped his team to victory while Tyler Barker and Mike Sande netted the goals.
The younger Rendez-Vous squad gave their opponents a tough game, said Andrew Sonnasinh of Manitou.
“After I heard they beat Pharmasave, I couldn’t believe it,” he remarked.
“But I knew that we shouldn’t underestimate them.
“They’re a good team, they played together, too, in high school,” Sonnasinh noted. “So we came in here thinking that they’re as equal as we are, so we just played the ball and let it ride out.
“Our team just played really well, we had good team chemistry, and these guys, I [couldn’t] play with a better group of guys than these guys here.”
Individual awards also were handed out following the finals, with Mitch Cain (Manitou) and Sara Roach (Taggs) named as MVP of their respective leagues.
The Golden Boot awards, presented to the top goals scorers during the regular season, went to Jimmy Nussbaumer (Pharmasave) and Laureen Peters and Allison Brown (Boston Pizza).
Mark Clifford (Pharmasave) and Amy Wilson-Hands were named the top keepers.
The most sportsmanlike awards went to Dirk Friesen (Emo) and Jessica Caul (Rendez-Vous) while Mike Ohman (Pharmasave) and Jessica Taggart were named the defensive players of the year.
The top rookies were Laura Baer (Manitou) and Claire Hyatt (Boston Pizza).