Extra games pay big dividends as LVR prepares for AA Field Hockey provincials
By The Nelson Daily Sports
It’s always good to look on the brighter side of life.
So when the L.V. Rogers Bombers suffered a crushing 1-0 loss to J. Lloyd Crowe Hawks in the final of the West Kootenay High School Girl’s Field Hockey Tournament, skipper Val Gibson took the positive approach.
And the strategy paid off in spades as the Bombers not only qualified for the B.C. High School AA Girl’s Field Hockey Championships with Wild Card wins over Princess Margaret of Penticton and Surrey’s Southridge, but the players gains some valuable experience playing on a surface that will be identical to the provincial showdown.
“The Wild Card games were a terrific chance for the Bombers to practice on the turf field and for the girls to gain some confidence,” Gibson said on the eve of the three-day AA tournament beginning Wednesday in West Vancouver.
“It also allowed the girls to try moves that just do not work on grass.”
LVR opened last week’s Wild Card tourney in Kelowna with a 2-0 win over Okanagan No. 2 Princess Margaret.
Hailee Gerun and Jena Wheeldon provided the offence.
The Bombers then dumped Fraser Valley No. 3 from Southridge by the same 2-0 score as Allie Zondervan and Chiara Chirico scored.
Tara Yowek, a key to LVR’s success, backstopped the wins in goal.
“Tara is very smart and very aggressive (and) manages the defence very well,” Gibson said of her star keeper.
“She is fearless in goal but will need to control her emotions.”
The wins power the Bombers to the tournament ranked ninth overall.
LVR has been slotted into the four-team pool with Collingwood from the North Shore, Vancouver Island rep Shawnigan Lake Island and Little Flower Academy of Vancouver.
Other players that must play well for LVR include midfielders Naomi Perkins, Hailee Gerun, Abbie Bourchier-Willans and Allie Zondervan along with snipers Emma Borhi, Jena Wheeldon, Lauren Walgren and Chiara Chirico.
This is the second straight year LVR has qualified for the tournament after being shutout of the event since 2001.
In 2012, the Bombers finished 10th after losing to Rossland in the final game of the tourney 2-1.
