Flyers tantalizingly close to another OFSAA appearance

The Eden Flyers girls field hockey team recently completed its third straight undefeated season in Zone 4 play. Photos special to BPSN.

The Eden Flyers came oh so close to making their second trip in the past three years to the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations’ girls field hockey championship.

Eden head coach Charlotte Morrison described the 3-2 overtime loss to Saltfleet in the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association semifinals as the most heart-breaking game of her long coaching career.

The game was tied 1-1 after the first half, before Eden grabbed a 2-1 lead and started to take control of the game. Despite playing short-handed for a stretch of the second half, Eden still led 2-1. With 10 seconds left to go, Saltfleet was awarded a penalty corner. Time expired as the penalty corner was being set up, but field hockey rules say the penalty corner is still enforced. Eden wasn’t scored upon on the penalty corner, but another penalty corner was called on the play and Saltfleet succeeded on the second opportunity.

“Time expired, the girls had it in their grasp, they were up 2-1 and literally in the dying seconds, the other team tied it up,” Morrison said. “Then we just didn’t have enough left for us in overtime, whether it was mentally or physically, and they scored on another penalty corner.”

It was a devastating setback.

“It was really hard for the girls, especially for the ones who are in Grade 12. This was their chance to go to OFSAA and it’s easier to accept defeat when you are the underdog,” Morrison said. “We were definitely as good as that team and deserved that chance to move on to OFSAA.”

Team co-captain Grace Tawil described the loss as very hard.

“The second that they scored I started to cry,” the Grade 11 student said. “I was bawling because we were so close and I felt so bad for all the Grade 12s. We all wanted to win for them because it’s their last year to go to OFSAA.”

Eden’s trip to OFSAA two years ago was the first by a Niagara school since Morrison started teaching in 1999. That year, 2016, also saw Eden become the first District School Board of Niagara team to win SOSSA field hockey.

“Until recently, the DSBN has not been competitive at SOSSA and the Hamilton zone typically walked away with SOSSA,” Morrison said. “The level of play in the DSBN has improved a lot.”

That recent history made the loss to Saltfleet sting even more.

“The girls had a taste of it (OFSAA),” Morrison said. “They had that goal and worked so hard all season to get there.”

Graduating co-captain Carter Janzen describes the 2016 OFSAA experience as the highlight of her career.

“I was playing with my sister at the time and our team was really connected,” the 16-year-old said. “We have been connected every year, but that team was so connected that we made it to OFSAA and had a lot of fun.”

There was also a memorable OFSAA moments away from the field.

“It’s where we saw Justin Bieber at a Montana’s,” Janzen said. “There were many things about that trip and being gone for three days with a team that you had played with for so long. It was really cool.”

It was also cool to be the first DSBN squad to win SOSSA.

“It was something that hadn’t happened in so many years and we couldn’t believe that we had achieved it,” Janzen said. “It was a highlight being a trendsetter like that.”

To prepare for this season, Eden attended three tournaments and played high-calibre teams from the Kitchener area, including Resurrection.

“They put a lot into it which is why the loss was even a lot harder for them,” Morrison said.

The Flyers went 4-0 in Zone 4 league play before defeating Governor Simcoe 3-0 in the semifinals and Grimsby 6-0 in the finals. It was third straight zone championship and third straight undefeated season for the Flyers.

Morrison arrived at Eden from Governor Simcoe in 2010 and started the field hockey program in 2011.

“Since then, the program has grown every year.” Morrison said.

Three years ago, the program had 42 players and last two seasons more than 50 girls have been playing. To accommodate so many interested girls, Morrison runs two teams. The second team doesn’t play in the Niagara league, but competes in exhibition games and tournaments.

“With having that experience, even though we have seven kids graduating this year, it’s not like we are replacing them with girls who have never played,” Morrison said. “It’s kids who are younger or less experienced and they are playing on the second team. It is a good building program.”

Morrison likes the second team for another reason as well.

“All the girls on the team have a chance to play. Some of the girls on the second team maybe aren’t the most athletic but they are still part of a team and get to go out of school and get to wear the shirts that say they are part of something. And they get to have a lot of fun.

What is happening is exactly what Morrison envisioned when she started the second team. She also ran a second team at Governor Simcoe.

“I love that like football nobody gets cut. I wanted something for girls that they could come out and try something and not be worried about getting cut or being a good athlete,” she said. “There is a place for them on the field where they can come out, get fit and have fun and meet new people.”

Morrison has two motives for running a second team.

“Part of that is unselfish and part of it is selfish to make the program a better program by having girls with more experience and playing time.”

The Eden program is also producing high-calibre talent. Grad Mackenzie Janzen is now a member of the Canadian junior national squad.

There were no Mackenzie Janzens on this year’s team.

“We didn’t have any stars which helped because sometimes they don’t always pass or they think they can do it by themselves,” Tawil said. “None of us were super crazy stars, but we all worked together and together we were an amazing team.”

Carter Janzen pointed to another reason for the team’s success.

“It’s the coaching,” she said. “They have a lot of experience and they know how to connect with the girls, how to get across the good aspects of being a team, and the skills.”

Both Tawil and Janzen have developed a love of field hockey.

“I have only been playing since Grade 9, but I love it just because it is different,” Tawil said. “I get to learn new things every year and meet a bunch of new people.”

Janzen echoes similar sentiments.

“I’ve grown up playing soccer and ice hockey and it’s a mixture of the two which made it feel like home to me,” she said. “And because my sister played it, I wanted to pursue it too.”