An Okotoks high school girls soccer team reaped the rewards of forward thinking on the pitch last week.
The Holy Trinity Academy (HTA) Knights (2-0) made quick work of the Strathmore Spartans on Sept. 27, dispatching their Foothills Athletic Council foes 9-0 at Riverside Park in Okotoks.
“We’re playing really well together and I think we’re starting to connect as a team,” said Knights sweeper Claire Thorimbert. “We were doing very well at moving the ball around and keeping possession and moving for the pass.”
The Knights were successful at their movement off the ball and into open spaces making good on their scoring chances with remarkable accuracy.
Knights striker Nicole Degenstein led the charge for HTA as she potted three goals, showing off her diversity of finishing touches in doing so.
“On the first one I was at the centre of the box and I got a pass from Brianna (Reid) and turned and shot top left corner,” Degenstein said. “The second one I was out at the left side of the box and I took a longer shot and it went top right corner and the last one I was just square with the net and passed it in to the bottom left corner.”
Degenstein said unselfish play in the final third was the reason for their abundant offensive display.
“We were communicating well and passing really well and setting each other up instead of being greedy,” she said.
The statistics don’t lie. Brooklyn Smith also scored three for the Knights, while Reid, Jenna Lauren and Cyndi Kranchuk each got on the board in the blowout victory over the overmatched Spartans.
In just two games of Foothills Athletic Council (FAC) play, the Knights have already surpassed last season’s goal total, 11, with 15 tallies while maintaining a clean sheet heading into week three.
Degenstein, one of seven returnees from last year’s FAC silver medalists, said the 2012 version of HTA girls soccer club is showing marked improvement on its predecessor.
“We have a lot of club players that play out of school so it’s definitely a stronger team this year,” said Degenstein, a Grade 11 student. “All around skill wise (we’re stronger) individually and then we can work together and know how to work together.”
Degenstein’s club experience with Calgary Foothills could have come into play against the rival Foothills Falcons, who feature several club teammates in Amanda Carruthers, Micah Wiltse and Shannon Jones, when the teams met on Tuesday, Oct. 2, after the Western Wheel’s press time.
“I’m very excited, it’s always a good game and there are a couple people from my club team so it should be a pretty good rivalry,” she said.
Thorimbert’s raring to go as well, noting the Knights have a difficult task ahead versus the maroon clad Falcons.
“It’s going to be a really challenging game so we’re really going to have to come together,” said Thorimbert, who thinks HTA needs to fire more shots than usual versus the Comp. “We tend to hang back so if we attack a little more aggressively then we will probably be able to get a better result.”
The Knights are back on the pitch Thursday, Oct. 4, when they travel south to tackle the Highwood Mustangs in High River at 4:30 p.m.
For more information on Foothills Athletic Council girls soccer go to www.foothillsathletics.ca.
