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Rebuilding Lady Kings defy odds, win bronze at provincials

Despite missing seven key players from last year, Orillia shines on provincial stage

When the Orillia Re/Max Lady Kings U19 team started the season in April, one thing was obvious: They would be a decidedly different team than the year before.

With the exit of seven talented, seniors (five of whom played significant roles this summer in either the NCAA or the OUA), the 2018 team would be young and inexperienced – a rebuilding year as they say.

“With an 0-2 start on the first weekend of play, I knew that there were key areas for improvement, but there was some real up-side evident as well,” said coach Pat Morris.

Indeed there was.

The team went on a significant run ending the season with an impressive 11-4 record with two of those losses coming to powerhouse Oshawa which had no personnel changes from the previous year.

The Orillia team also travelled to Massachusetts this summer where they played evenly against older competition.

Back in Ontario, it was time to prepare for the provincials.

“We have been a medal winner in each of the last three years, but with the youngest team in the league, and a focus on development, our goal this year was to compete with Kawartha, Orangeville and Toronto for fourth,” said Morris.

In the provincial championship tournament held last weekend, the squad pursued their goal.

After a 2-1 record in the preliminary round, Orillia faced a seasoned, older team in Oakville in the semi-finals.

The Orillia girls were down by three in the first half, but stormed back to tie the game 4-4. There was stellar back-and-forth play in the second half which left Orillia down by one with less than two minutes to play.

One goal may not seem a large challenge but Orillia was facing the top goalie in the province in Cassie Eckert of Oakville, who was, once again, outstanding. Undaunted, and with just 1:49 remaining, Hannah Morris eluded the defence and went top shelf on Eckert to tie the game.

But it was not to be as Oakville’s Claire Mills (an attacker for Team Canada) scored with 19 seconds remaining to earn a one-goal win and a trip to the gold-medal game. (They lost to Oshawa).

“Of course, we would have preferred to win,” said Morris. “But I am extremely proud of the girls. Our goalie, Kallista Jacobs, is in her first year of U19 and our team is young. Today, they played a game that would draw people to the sport. It was fast and exciting to the end.”

Morris recognized the defensive efforts of Kennedy Lynch and Morgan Vickers, the mid-field work of Jordan Kummer and Rachel Shaver, and the offensive touch of Paige Stachura and Kassidy Morris.

That loss set Orillia up for the bronze-medal game against Orangeville – the teams had split a pair of games during the season.

But this time, Orillia would be without senior midfielder Jordan Kummer, a significant loss. Again, Orillia fell behind early, before rallying to tie the game 4-4 shortly after the half. Orillia did pull away 7-5, but some unfortunate giveaways allowed Orangeville to knot the score at 7-7.

With under a minute left, some excellent mid-field battle by Shaver followed by a feed by the playmaker Jerica Obee, sent Hannah Morris in on a one-against-three. Somehow, her shot found the back on the net to end Orangeville’s hopes of avenging their loss to Orillia last year.

Morris said clears by goalie Kallista Jacobs, Obee’s offensive feeds, Shavers’ mid-field ball battles and the offensive contribution of Paige Stachura (4 goals), Hannah Morris (3 goals) and Kassidy Morris (2 goals) were critical to the win.

The Orillia team will lose four of their players. Jordy Kummer and Morgan Vickers will take their academic and athletic talents to Queen’s University where they hope to assist the Golden Gaels’ pursuit of an Ontario championship, while Hannah Morris will be heading to the University of Louisville, Kentucky in Division 1 of the NCAA and Alexis Roberson will be entering an apprenticeship in contracting.

Morris lauded the contributions of his coaching staff and said they were a big part of the team’s success.

Orillia Lady Kings (OLK) graduate Annie Lloyd, he noted, was an excellent coach and mentor to the young squad.

Paulette Valliant, who was a first-time OLK coach, assisted greatly in molding a team of young women. Jay Kummer, also a first timer, “was a constant positive influence.”

In addition, veteran trainer and first-time manager Mark Obee, who has long been committed to the OLK program, was appreciated, said Morris, who also said he was thankful to team sponsor Roy Micks of Orillia's Re/Max Realty.

The season isn’t over for some of the Kings. Stachura, Kummer, Obee and Annie Lloyd will travel with the U19 Team Ontario to the national championship in Alberta in two weeks’ time; Morris is coaching that squad. Lynch and Hannah Morris will play for Team Ontario’s U17 team.

 


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Dave Dawson

About the Author: Dave Dawson

Dave Dawson is community editor of OrilliaMatters.com
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