Skip to content

Silver lining for Royals field hockey

Handsworth's championship streak ends at three but senior girls still hit the podium

The Handsworth Royals were going for an incredible fourth straight provincial championship but fell one spot short at this year's North Shore-hosted senior girls AAA tournament, losing the final to a tough Shawnigan Lake squad.

The Royals blasted through opening round play, outscoring their opponents 11-0, before topping Charles Best 4-0 in the quarterfinals and then outlasting Kelowna 1-0 in the semis. That set up a showdown against Shawnigan, the team Handsworth beat in the final of the prestigious Bridgman Cup tournament on Vancouver Island earlier this season.

On Friday the Island-based Shawnigan squad returned the favour, coming onto Handsworth's home turf and claiming the title with a 4-0 victory at Ambleside Park's Rutledge Field. Icy temperatures wreaked havoc with the schedule, forcing some games to be moved from Ambleside to Sutherland, but the cold didn't seem to slow down Shawnigan as they claimed their first AAA title since moving up from the AA ranks at the start of the season.

South Delta topped Kelowna 2-1 in the bronze medal game while West Vancouver and Argyle rounded out a strong showing for North Shore teams by finishing sixth and seventh, respectively. West Vancouver lost to Gleneagle secondary in a shootout in their final match while Argyle topped Charles Best 1-0 in the seventh-place game.

"It was a great tournament with lots of fun teams and really great players," said Handsworth head coach Graham Walker, a silver medalist in his first provincial championship since taking over the team from retired three-time champion Paul Winstanley. "It was really great to see three North Shore teams in the top seven in the province."