Kodiak Chrome capped an undefeated season in the Prince George Women's Soccer Association and in the process left Connie Ratkaj with a splitting headache.
The Division 1 regular season champions defeated Ratkaj and her Mountain Air Kettle Corn squad 5-1 in Wednesday's playoff final at Michelle Lamarche Field.
From start to finish, Kodiak Chrome was the team to beat in the five-team top division and including two playoff wins ended up with an 18-0-3 record.
"It was an absolutely fantastic season, we had really strong turnouts for almost all our games and the girls just clicked," said Kodiak Chrome defender/manager Caitlyn Marquis. "We're pretty proud of ourselves."
Josslynn Spence, Camilla Lemoine, Jessica Brand, Kia Sleeman and Kadie Trippel scored for Kodiak Chrome on goalie Kelly Jenkins. Chelsea Shimoyama was lone Mountain Air goal scorer.
Formerly known as Interlopez, Kodiak Chrome made up for their postseason disappointment of last year, when they won the regular season but finished fourth in the playoffs. This year's team included veterans such as Sydney Hall, who led all Div. 1 scorers with 25 goals in 19 games, Jessica Erickson, who picked up eight goals in the regular season, Jessica Brand, Jordan Hall, Nicole Cummins and the Rossi twins, Carissa and Cory. Both Halls also play university soccer for the UNBC Timberwolves and were not available for the playoffs.
Jordan Hall, the Timberwolves goalie, played out as a runner most of the season and all 19 members of Kodiak Chrome took a turn in net, playing at least one half of a game.
"We had a team that really supported each other well and that made it easy to play with everyone," said Marquis. "We have girls who are university players and all-star players and some who are not so skilled and everyone had to step up and that led to our success."
In the semifinal round a week ago, Kodiak Chrome defeated Accelerated Physiotherapy 2-1, while Mountain Air Kettle Corn scored a 2-1 win over Xconditioning.
Kodiak Chrome was leading the final 3-0 late in the first half when Ratkaj jumped up for a header on a high pass attempt. The 38-year-old sweeper got her head on the ball but also smashed nose-first into the forehead of Trippel. The impact left Ratkaj with a broken nose. She left the field and missed the second half and that left her team with just 10 players.
"They were Number 1, the strongest team -- they had youth, they were fast and skilled and we were hoping for a tie," said Ratkaj, who plans to retire from Div. 1 play. "We had eight players to start and they had two or three subs, so it was looking bleak, but we had a couple girls show up and we were at a full squad until I left."
Ratkaj said the league did a great job of dispersing the elite players among the five Div. 1 teams and that contributed to a lot of close games during the four-month season. Mountain Air Kettle Corn finished fourth in the league with a 7-9-3 record.
In the Division 3 final, also played on Wednesday, Westcana Electric blanked Tillmanns 2-0. Lorrie Bartlett and Cyndi Lewis were the goal scorers. Teresa Ellison earned the shutout in the Westcana nets.
In Thursday's playoff finals, Scottie's Hotties and Caribou Brewmasters met in the Division 2 final and Can You Dig It Contracting met QML Contracting for Div. 4 playoff bragging rights.
The PGWSA is combining with the North Cariboo Senior Soccer (Men's) League for the second annual seven-a-side coed tournament, which starts Sunday at 10 a.m. at North Cariboo Field.
Finals in all three divisions of the NCSSL will also be played on Sunday, also at North Cariboo Field. It starts with the 45-and-older final at 1 p.m. which pits the Caledonians against Subway, followed at 3 p.m. by the 30-and-over final, featuring Queensway Auto World against Eden Spas/Geotech. Westwood Pub and Rolling Mix Concrete will meet in the Open Division final at 5 p.m.
