The Queen Margaret's School girls soccer team is headed to the provincials after a strong showing at the Island tournament in Victoria on May 15-16. The team finished second overall, behind Pacific Christian School.
QMS started strong, beating North Island Secondary School 1-0 in their opening match, courtesy of a late goal from Layla Walker. They followed up with a 2-0 shutout of St. John's Academy of Shawnigan Lake, with goals from Emma Meecher and Jessica Tshibangu.
The team's decisive 6-1 win over St. Andrew's saw goals from Walker (2), Jessica Tshibangu, Nina Steeves, Honey White, and Kaity Sletmoen. Their undefeated record in Pool A earned them a spot in the gold medal match against Pacific Christian School.
Despite a hard-fought effort, QMS fell 3-1 to PCS in the final, with Lauren Moilanen scoring the team's lone goal. Nevertheless, their provincial championship ticket was punched.
Meanwhile, Duncan Christian School finished second in their pool and went on to play North Island Secondary for bronze, ultimately placing fourth overall.
DCS had played to a 7-0 victory over Nanaimo Christian in their first game, then bested St. Margaret's 4-1 in their second round robin game, but stumbled in their third game, losing 3-1 to Pacific Christian School.
St. John's Academy went on to finish fifth in the tournament after beating Nanaimo Christian 4-3 in a shootout in the fifth/sixth place game.
St. John's Academy had placed third in their pool with a 1-0 win over St. Andrew's and losses to QMS and North Island.
Joining the host DCS team, who have an automatic berth, the top three teams from the Islands: QMS, Pacific Christian, and North Island Secondary, have advanced to the 'A' girls provincial soccer championships in Duncan on May 29-31.
