KES High Performance Soccer Winter Training

Our KES High Performance soccer girls completed the winter portion of their training programme by hosting the Valley under-17AAA girls club team this past Monday, March 8^th at the West Hants Sports Complex, and they came away with a solid 7-3 victory. Using a slick, quick passing and rapid attacking style of play, KES was able to dominate ball possession and create a large number of scoring chances from the outset. Co-captain, Jill Griffith (Class of 2022) opened the scoring on a well-timed headed goal in the 7^th minute. Hannah Bryant (Class of 2022) with a hard finish to the bottom left-hand corner, Katie Trifos (Class of 2022) with a well-placed shot in the same corner, Eva Palov’s (Class of 2024) hard, driven blast past the goalkeeper, and Reegan Wagg (Class of 2024) with a strong header, in similar fashion to Griffith’s, also found the net as KES led 5-1 at the half.

After the break, Griffith put a most solid stamp on the match and earned ‘Player of the Game’ honours as she scored two more goals to complete her hat-trick. Maya Faucher (Class of 2022), Danica Scully (Class of 2024), and Lennon Rutledge (Class of 2023) shared the goalkeeping duties for KES and were solid throughout the game. Most impressive were some top-notch saves made to look easier than they should have been because they were in excellent starting position. Most impressive was their consistently informative communication to their outfield teammates, and strong distribution with accurate passes and throws. Defenders Neila MacDonald (Class of 2022), Kayla Jarvis (Class of 2022) and Fiona MacDonald (Class of 2021) played very well as they connected passes from their goalkeepers with their midfield and forward teammates, making quality pass after quality pass. On defence, they were ruthless and limited the Valley attack to a few clear-cut chances. Midfielders and wingers Jill Griffith, Eva Palov, Reegan Wagg, Hannah Bryant, Katie Trifos and Rendi Ashley (Class of 2024) ran the show in midfield and on the wing as they ran their socks off by maintaining ball possession throughout the game, completed a high number of combination plays, and created numerous scoring chances. Well done to the entire group for a very solid ‘team’ performance.

This past Tuesday, March 9^th, the KES High Performance training group hosted the visiting Halifax City Under-17AAA boys club team at the West Hants Sports Complex to close out the winter portion of their winter training programme. In a close and relatively low-scoring game, both teams flew up and down the field in a fast and furious battle of two well-matched teams. In the end, it was KES who came away with a narrow 5-4 victory. Full credit goes to the entire roster for a strong effort highlighted by determined tackles, relentless running, and tough defensive shot blocks. Mario Meira-Lavoie (Class of 2021) paced the KES offence with two goals, while Noah Burch-Pottie (Class of 2023), Augie Ashley (Class of 2022) and Allie Martin (Class of 2021), with the game-winning-goal with five minutes left in the game, added singles.

Goalkeeper Ben Bednara (Class of 2022) was stellar in goal as he made a couple of exceptional saves including a key save from point blank distance in front of goal and followed that up with an incredibly athletic dive to thwart another opponent’s shot at the near post. Defenders Lukas Schmidt (Class of 2022), Burch-Pottie, and Neila MacDonald (Class of 2022) worked well together in limiting City scoring chances while making good first passes out of defence to ignite the KES attack. Midfielders Emiliano Bonilla (Class of 2022), Chris Nitsch (Class of 2021), and Augie Ashley (Class of 2022) were dominant in the middle of the field as they tracked back on defence and kept the team in rhythm with excellent passing. Alessandro Keller (Class of 2023), Ben Marais (Class of 2022), and Karl Hitzbleck (Class of 2023) performed very well on the wings as they ran the full length of the field, defensively in tracking their opponents and creating chances in attack. In addition to their scoring, Meira-Lavoie and Martin helped the team by consistently applying pressure on their opponents that either forced turnovers or made them play faster than they wanted to. Well done to the entire group for a fun game to watch!