Eagles Firing On All Cylinders

Senior Boys & Senior Girls Soccer Teams

On Saturday October 28, the Senior Boys soccer team faced the possibility of elimination at their Northeast Regionals. 

Resilience was shown by the Eagles throughout the game.  The players rose to the occasion and came home with two strong wins.  The Senior Boys soccer team will be heading to Provincials this coming weekend.

The Senior Boys started the day off playing their do or die game against Rogersville on their home field. The boys came out strong battling hard all game. 

Aaron Walls scored the first and only goal early in the second half to give the boys a 1-0 lead.  This was all the boys needed as Keeper Jacob Mercer played an amazing game in net picking up the shutout and helping the boys advance to Provincials.

The boys played their second game of the day against a very strong Marcel-Francois-Richard squad, out of Saint-Louis-de-Kent.  This game was not a do or die game, but was still very important for the boys as it would determine whether they were going into Provincials with the 1st or 2nd seed in the North Eastern conference. 

The boys came out strong putting the pressure on the opposing squad.  Aaron Walls scored a great goal off of a corner kick to give the boys the 1-0 lead.  The boys picked up another one off of a long free-kick from Denver Donovan to increase the lead to 2-0 before the half. 

MFR came out very aggressive in the second half taking it very hard at our boys. They scored a quick goal to cut the lead to 2-1.  Keeper Jacob Mercer continued his dominance in net doing the splits for a huge save, as well as making a huge diving save, jumping on the ball just before it could cross the line.

Denver Donovan then scored on a huge penalty kick to give the boys some breathing room with a 3-1 lead. M.F.R would score one more to make it 3-2, but that's as close it would get as Mercer shut the door in goal.

The boys picked up the 3-2 win and celebrated on their home field in front of a huge hometown crowd. The boys are heading into Provincials next weekend with the 1st seed in the North Eastern Conference, and an abundance of hometown support.

Erin Moody - Shootout

Unlike the boys, the girls were not as lucky at their Regionals. 

They fought a long and hard battle against Petitcodiac, which was tied at 1-1 for the majority of the game. 

Erin Moody had the blue and gold goal, scoring on a penalty shot, after being tripped inside of the 18-yard box. After two 10 minute overtimes, there was still no winner, so the game was forced to a shoot out. 

Moody shot first for the Eagles and believed that her goal crossed the line, while their was controversy between the referees with her goal. After the girls fourth shooter missed, they were lead to believe that they lost the game. 

As they walked onto the field with sad faces, they were informed that their first kicker, Erin Moody, had scored. The team was ecstatic to find out that it was not yet over. Andrea Lynch was the 6th shooter for the girls and she made no mistake, having her shot find the back of the net. 

Keeper, K.C Hallihan, the brick wall that she is, came up huge in the net, saving the final shot.  The Eagles had won.  The celebration was cut short when the referee came over to inform us that Moody's goal had in fact not crossed the line, therefore, Petitcodiac was given the win. 

Coaches Matthew Sturgeon and Tyson Donovan were livid and they filed an official report to protest the game.  The girls left the field with heavy hearts, however, were called the next day and told the great news.  NBIAA over looked the game and granted BHS with the win, as the referees originally called Moody's goal in. Both senior girls and senior boys soccer teams were making history, as they were both heading to provincials. 

On Tuesday, October 31, Coach Matthew Sturgeon was forced to tell the girls that Petitcodiac filed another protest, which was again looked at by the NBIAA board, and they won their protest.  BHS senior girls soccer were, once again, no longer going to Provincials. This was the final verdict. 

The entire team was crushed, especially the seniors as they had realized they would never get to wear the jersey again. The girls had felt like they were on a never ending ride. Their season ended on the most unfortunate note that no one could have ever predicted. 

Congratulations to our Senior Girls on the best female soccer season in Blackville history.  The girls will always know in their hearts that they are the true winners of their Regional Final.

By Marlee Schofield and Daniel Richard