Skip to content

Upstart Orcas settle for provincial silver

The Elgin Park Orcas made a big splash with a silver medal performance at the B.C. Senior Girls AAA Rugby Championships on Vancouver Island last weekend.

Entering the provincial tournament in Port Alberni, Elgin Park was not expected to make much of a statement. The Orcas ranked sixth of eight teams competing, but managed to make their trip to the Island count by advancing to the championship final. The Orcas fell just short the ultimate prize, dropping a 15-10 decision to the topseeded G.P. Vanier Towhees (Courtney) in the gold medal match.

En route to the final, Elgin Park posted impressive victories against defending champion Cowichan Thunderbirds and No. 2 seed Yale Lions.

Johan Mynhardt, the Orcas head coach, said that his squad performed very well and was impressed with his team's results.

"It was a really fantastic experience for our students. We had a bit of trouble at the beginning getting our team to function properly," Mynhardt said.

At the start of the season, Elgin Park had trouble gelling and creating chemistry. As a result, they lost games to Cowichan and Yale.

Those losses pushed the Orcas' provincial rank further down. A win over Clayton Heights Nightriders - the only other Surrey team in the class AAA provincials - late in the season boosted the Orcas into the No. 6 seed.

"Getting to the Island, we knew we were going to be in tough because of that number," Mynhardt said about his team's low seed.

In their first match, the Orcas played the reigning-champion and No. 3 seed Cowichan Thunderbirds in a tight match, but managed to beat them thanks to a penalty kick in double overtime.

Climbing the ladder, Mynhardt's squad met the No. 2-ranked Yale Lions in the

semifinal.

Playing Yale in the league earlier in the season helped prepare the Orcas for the Lions, and that experience helped who were organized prevent Yale from scoring any points.

"Our defence was rock solid and for 60 minutes," Mynhardt said. "Our girls defended like tigers."

After avenging the earlier losses to the two powerhouse teams, the Orcas were looking forward to taking on the tournament favourite.

"We we're quite confident going into the final against G.P. Vanier, but was a tough go for us, partly because of numbers," Mynhardt said.

Two of Elgin Park's six seniors couldn't play in the final due to non-rugby related concussions.

"One of them had a concussion from playing ultimate (Frisbee) and the other one had a concussion (while) playing baseball. She was hit in the head." Mynhardt said.

"Two absolutely freak accidents that took off two of our starting players."

Down two starters, Mynhardt had to go to his bench to fill the holes with Grade 8

students.

However, the head coach said that the rookies played fantastic and that he is looking forward to the future of this rugby program.

"It's a question of do we have the commitment and do we have the drive and the urge and the want to actually do that. I believe they can. I'm very confident that we're going to be playing rugby at this level for a while," he said.

Second place is the highest Elgin Park has ever finished at the provincial championships, topping their fourth-place finish last season.

Clayton Heights, the other Surrey school in the AAA championships, lost in their first game to G.P. Vanier, and were eliminated from title contention.