Game Report by Walt Brandl
Mar 26/05
The Burnaby Lake Women found themselves in a familiar location last Saturday but with the knowledge that they had arrived via a different route. Rather than being the favourite in the BC Women’s Premier League semi-final, Burnaby Lake was entering the game as the underdog, facing a team that had handled them quite easily in their last meeting. In addition this was largely the same Capilano group that had ended Burnaby’s string of championships at 1 in a row in a tense final last season.
The polite, subdued applause from the players as the coach finished the pre-game talk raised the eyebrows of the Burnaby supporters waiting outside the dressing room, with many questioning the team’s mental preparedness. “Golf applause” commented one of the pundits.
At kick-off, however, the Burnaby Lake Women immediately erased all doubt as to the team’s readiness. Although the Burnaby kick-off went seemingly out of the coverage range of the forwards, the Capilano receiver was surprised by Shannon Lowe’s crashing tackle. Burnaby poached the ball and was on the attack. Although the initial flurry of Burnaby Lake offense came away empty handed it, the players had good reason to be optimistic about the outcome.
Throughout the first 20 minutes Burnaby had a marked advantage in territory although possession was almost equal. Burnaby’s uncompromising commitment to team defense stopped the Cap’s attack over and over and had the added benefit of forcing turnovers as the aggressive flat-line caught the runners behind the gain line. At the 25 minute mark Burnaby’s hard work and patience paid off with a try by Jessica Whidden off a driving maul.
The second half exhibited more of the same pattern with neither team breaking long runs but with Burnaby Lake using what little outside space Cap’s left open to advance and with the support players arriving more quickly than cover defense. A break through the mid-field by Anna Schnell was followed by some strong driving runs by Jody Dobush and other forwards to results in a try by Dawn Williams who struck quickly on an abandoned blind-side to score.
Capilano’s rallied to try to bring the game back into reach but strong scrummaging and extremely disciplined defense left few opportunities for the home team to defend their championship. A try at the 80 minute mark would have to suffice for the Capilano efforts.
Players of note for Burnaby Lake were plentiful in a true team effort but mention must be made of Anna Schnell who was able to pick openings against an effective Caps defense and twice recovered her own chips over the Capilano back-line. Iona Schamberger was able to disrupt the Capilano scrums from her spot at tight-head prop, denying the powerful Capilano back row a platform to attack from. Jody Dobush consistently “showed up” in the rucks and mauls and was able to create attacking opportunities with her strong driving runs. In addition, Mandy Lewis put loads of pressure on the Capilano inside backs from her open-side flanker position, repeatedly registering tackle after tackle and stopping attacks before they started.
The final score of 12-5 puts Burnaby Lake in the Premier final for the 3rd straight year and for 3 of the 4 years that they have been in the Premier league. Their opposition with be the Vancouver Island “Super club” Nanaimo Hurricanes who finished first over all and defeated SFU in the other semi-final. The game will be played nest Saturday at UBC the kick-off time TBA.
