Clearwater Secondary School Raiders arrived in Kelowna late Wednesday Oct. 18 to compete in the Okanagan Zone championships to earn a place in the upcoming provincials.
CSS was hit with some disappointing news earlier in the week as it was revealed that only three teams instead of the usual four or five, from ‘Okanagans’ would move on to provincial finals. Raiders had their work cut out for them as out of the eight teams competing at Okanagans, CSS was one of only three public schools. Raiders first game against Vernon Christian was a tight match with the CSS team showing great energy and unity. Vernon was unable to cause any threat to Reegan Willms in the Raiders goal.
The game ended 0-0 and went to the most dramatic shootout Raiders have ever been part of. After 18 shots, Raiders came out on top thanks to some great saves from Reegan. Successful kicks from Soren Coates, Evan Cooke, Owen Sim, Lucas Taniguti, Danny Gontcharov, Jackson Graffunder and Jaden Phillips saw the Raiders celebrating at the end of the shoot-out. Ethan Smith and Kalan Priede had great penalties, saved and rebound off the post respectively. A dramatic ending that had Raiders deservedly proud and looking forward to their next, but toughest game.
A team that showed character, grit, hunger and a group of individuals who left every single ounce of being on the field, fell to a 2-0 defeat to Immaculata. For only the second time this season, Raiders tasted defeat. A tough blow to take after a valiant performance saw CSS go toe-to-toe with their opponents, even outplaying them for a long period of the game. Raiders created good openings, but just couldn’t unlock the Immaculata defence. The hosts were able to slide the ball into the CSS net after a quick counterattack when Raiders lost possession in their own half. As Raiders pushed forward with all they had, it left openings at the back which were capitalized upon by Immaculata late in the second half. A tough result to take, but two huge performances against two strong teams on Thursday made everyone connected with the team very proud. However, it left Raiders needing to at least win both games Friday to stand a chance of clinching that third Provincial berth. Raiders did everything in their power to successfully win both their games on the last day. Playing with pride, emotion, and togetherness.
Unfortunately it wasn’t enough as some surprise results in other games meant they missed out on a provincial berth.
The first game of the day was against Ashcroft. Some sore legs took to the field and despite controlling the ball for all of the game and hitting the post from a long-range drive from Owen Sim, the half ended 0-0.
Second half and Raiders turned up the intensity as Ethan Smith poked the ball home for Raiders’ first goal of the tournament from open play. Soren Coates added another from close range and Danny Gontcharov scored a great goal after breaking into the Ashcroft box. Raiders were awarded a penalty and Evan Cooke stepped up to convert from 12 yards. Evan added another goal shortly after, weaving through the Ashcroft defence and finding the far side of the net - a sublime goal to make it 5-0. Grade 8 player Braeden Osmond hit the bar with a free kick late on in the game.
Surprising news from the other game in Raiders’ pool trickled through and broke hearts as the second spot was snatched away from them by one point. That meant a quick turnaround for Game 4 against Aberdeen Hall, the third private school Raiders faced this tournament. One last hurrah for the 11 Grade 12 team members who travelled to Okanagans, eight of whom started the game.
As was the case in all the games at Okanagans, Raiders battled, controlled and dominated possession for most of the game, creating chances against good opposition and putting them on the back foot. Scoreless at half time, and more rallying from the Raiders saw Danny Gontcharov blast the ball into the net to put them 1-0 up with 10 minutes to play. Raiders hung on for a proud result that represented all their efforts this year.
An emotional farewell for Devin Holland, Jaden Phillips, Jackson Graffunder, Owen Sim, Soren Coates, Reid Muddiman, Lucas Taniguti, Ethan Smith and Danny Gontcharov who wore the Raiders jersey for the last time after representing the team every year of their CSS careers.
Another honourable mention goes out to Grade 12 Zeph James, Hunter Breckenridge and Chase Prest who joined the team this season. Reegan Willms and Kalan Priede, also with honourable mentions, were solid performers for the team all season and it will be up to them alongside Theron McLarty, Evan Cooke, Tyson von Hollen, Mason Streadwick, Donovan Stelter and Owen Lamond to help continue the identify of the team moving forward.
And one last shout out to coaches Barb Coates and Ryan Wilkes who have coached together with this group of players over the last six years through CYSA and CSS. Their passion and commitment will be dearly missed as they step back from coaching. A new dawn for Raiders approaches as a talented, passionate group of Grade 8 players will come to fruition and aid the development of the team in the next couple of years. LET’S GO RAIDERS!