Even with plenty of new faces in their line-up, the South Delta Sun Devils have established themselves as one of the top senior girls field hockey teams in the province this season.
For the fourth straight year, the Sun Devils finished second at the prestigous Bridgman Cup, held over the Thanksgiving Weekend in Victoria.
South Delta rolled to round-robin victories over Kelowna (3-1), Kelsey (5-1) and Mt. Douglas (6-0). The impressive run continued in the playoff round as the Sun Devils defeated Argyle (3-0) then blanked Cowichan (2-0), in the semi-finals.
That set-up a gold medal game encounter with defending provincial "AAA" champions Handsworth Royals. The girls hung tough with the North Shore powerhouse, eventually dropping a 3-1 decision.
"Sadly one of my defenders injured her knee early in the first half so we had to juggle players around somewhat and we lost some control of midfield," said South Delta coach Neil McLennan.
"The end result was very good considering the number of new players on the team and their relative inexperience with this level of school hockey. Our lone goal was the only tally scored against Handsworth in the entire tournament." A week earlier, the Sun Devils were also on Vancouver Island and turned in a strong showing at the annual Cowichan tournament. They produced wins over Brentwood and Frances Kelsey, before battling the hosts to a draw.
Cowichan enjoyed a long run as one of the top high school programs in the provincial and is rounding into elite form again.
South Delta also remains undefeated in league play despite missing a number of key players in recent games due to conflicts and injuries. Some call-ups from the junior team have been needed to fill out the roster.
