Joey Payeur
Ask Jess Caul three months ago what she figured her biggest contribution to Taggs/Source for Sports would be this season and the last answer she probably would have given would have been her goalkeeping.
But the noted sniper, who was second in the league in goals last season with 18 while a member of the La Place Rendez-Vous Voyageurs U-18 squad, came back to haunt her old team with a pair of clutch stops to help second-place Taggs win a penalty-kick shootout 4-2 over the first-place and defending champion Vous to capture the Borderland Soccer League women’s division championship on Thursday at the Struchan Gilson Soccer Pitches.
With the teams tied 1-1 after regulation, the shootout got off to a tough start for Caul when Alyssa Faragher drilled a shot off the crossbar and straight down into the net to put the defending champion Voyageurs out front.
After Caul ripped her own shot past Vous goalkeeper Sierra Cousineau, Katie Sinclair restored the Voyageurs’ advantage with a rocket to the lower left corner.
But after Sara Roach tied it for Taggs, the shootout turned in the underdog’s favour for good.
Caul appeared to get her right foot on a shot from Nicole Avis before the ball bounced off the post and out of danger.
Liz Morrisseau then surprised Cousineau with a quick kick the second the ball was ready to be booted, putting it just past the diving goalkeeper into the lower left corner.
Then Caul pulled another rabbit out of the hat.
Facing the player who replaced Caul as the Voyageurs’ leading goal scorer this season, Hailey Beaudry, the netminder dove back after starting off going the wrong way and just barely corralled the ball before it crossed the goalline.
That put Hannah Firth-Oster in position to clinch the victory, which she did with a missile to the top left corner that Cousineau had no chance to stop.
Taggs won its semifinal 5-3 against Al’s Racquet Stringing last Tuesday (Aug. 12), but entered the title game having lost five of six meetings against the Vous this season.
That trend appeared destined to continue in the 30th minute when a cross by Erin Tomalty of the Voyageurs into the 18-yard box turned into a shot that a leaping Caul got a hand on, but couldn’t control.
The rebound found its way to Vous striker Myla Angus, who snapped a shot past Caul for a 1-0 lead.
But instead of retreating, Taggs pushed forward despite having no substitutes available compared to a bench that ran four deep for the Vous.
Roach switched up the Voyageurs’ defence by going to her left foot to fire the ball past Cousineau in the 37th minute to tie the contest.
Claire Sandelovich replaced Caul between the pipes to start the second half as Taggs tried to spark its offence.
It almost worked as Caul’s corner kick early in the half almost turned into an own goal by the Vous, as Cousineau had to go vertical in a hurry to grab defender Jaymee Fiset’s wayward clearing attempt using her head.
Maggie Jean nearly put the Voyageurs in front later in the half, collecting Katie Sinclair’s throw-in and putting a shot just over the crossbar from about 15 yards out.
Caul returned to playing goal with five minutes left so she would be eligible to stay there for the impending shootout.
But an ill-advised charge from the net by the goalkeeper shortly thereafter allowed Avis to get around her and get off a shot which went wide of the left post.
In the men’s division final, International Travel Services completed its unfinished business from a season ago, taking home the champion’s trophy after blanking Manitou Forest Products 3-0.
ITS lost on penalty kicks to Senior Pharmasave in last year’s final, but put together a great regular season which saw them finish first overall ahead of second-place Manitou, who had two wins and a tie in three games with ITS this year.
Aaron Kavanaugh made sure there would not be another disappointment for the green-and-white, as he rifled home a pair of goals to go along with a single by Nathan Jodoin.
Ben Whitburn, who came within a fingertip of extending last year’s shootout in the final, earned his redemption with the shutout for ITS in outduelling Manitou’s James Pavier.
The league handed out its year-end awards following the finals
Gabrielle Nussbaumer was a double winner, as she was named the women’s division’s MVP and also received the Golden Boot Award for leading the league in goals.
Garnet Cornell of ITS claimed the men’s division MVP, while Manitou’s Ahmadou Idrissou won the Golden Boot for the second consecutive year.
Pavier was named the men’s league’s top goalkeeper, with no player selected for the award in the women’s division due to the fact all three teams didn’t feature a steady No. 1 goalkeeper throughout the campaign.
Kristina Bombay of Al’s and Aaron Bujold of the Voyageurs U-18 boys team were selected as rookie of the year for their respective divisions.
Morrisseau and Chris Faragher of Manitou were honoured as the best defensive players, while Claire Crichton of Al’s and Cam Lidkea of the Vous were named recipients of the Heart and Soul Award.
Heather Wright of Taggs was picked as most sportsmanlike player for the second straight year, with the Senior Pharmasave duo of Sone Sonnasinh and Mark Faragher sharing the honour on the men’s side.
