MARTIN CLEARY
John McCrae Bulldogs and Merivale Marauders are on a collision course in the National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association varsity girls’ Tier 1 field hockey league.
Undefeated and overpowering in the regular season with matching 6-0 records to tie for first place in the west division, the Bulldogs and Marauders continued to follow that track Monday during the opening two quarter-final games on the Minto Sports Field at the Nepean Sportsplex.
McCrae, which has won five of the past six NCSSAA Tier 1 titles, started slowly, but zipped past Colonel By 5-0. The Bulldogs have won all seven league regular season and playoff games, scoring 36 goals and not allowing a single goal for seven shutouts.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Merivale blanked Glebe Gryphons 4-0. The Marauders also have impressive numbers: seven league wins, seven shutouts, 29 goals for.
One more win by each side in Thursday’s semifinals and they’ll meet in the city championship final on Friday on the Minto field at 4:15 p.m.
In the semifinals, McCrae will face the winner of Tuesday’s quarter-final between Longfields-Davidson Heights, 2-2-2, and Ashbury, 5-1, on the Minto field at 3:15 p.m., and Merivale will take on the survivor of the last quarter-final between Sir Robert Borden, 2-2-2, and Nepean, 6-0., at either Minto or the school with the better league standing at 1:45 p.m.
Playing in front of rookie goalkeepers Erin Sheinfeld and Taryn Dutton, who rarely have seen any action, the Bulldogs have taken a total team approach to every game.
“We have no superstars. Scoring is by committee. Defence is by committee,” said McCrae coach Bill Jardin, after the Bulldogs’ quarter-final victory.
The McCrae defence has been exceptionally strong and, if stats were kept, they’d probably show only two shots on the Bulldogs’ net.
In its two tournament meetings this season, McCrae defeated Merivale at a tournament in Kingston, but Merivale held the advantage at the McCrae tournament.
McCrae, which won the bronze medal at the 2010 Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations’ championship, has an overall record of 15-1, which includes winning its own tournament, but losing the Kingston tournament in the final on overtime flicks.
