Royals WSOC have a tough fight to a medal
By Davie Wong, Sports Editor
After a massive gold medal win at the PACWEST soccer championships, the Douglas College Royals women’s soccer team has been prepping for the CCAA Nati0nal Championships in Halifax. The practice will be needed as the Royals have one of the arguably toughest draws.
The team were drawn into group B of the competition as the second seed. The second seed is strange at first, but when you see the rest of teams in the group, it becomes clear. First seed in group B is the three time defending champions, Elans de Garneau. Second are the Royals, and third is the all too familiar NAIT Ooks. Fourth is the Dalhousie Rams, who despite only having a spot in the tournaments as hosts, are still a great team on paper.
The Royals will face off against the NAIT Ooks in the quarterfinals of the tournament. The Ooks lost twice to the Royals in the tournament last year, so the two sides are quite familiar with each other. While the Royals should win here, it’ll still be a challenge. No team harder to beat than the one who already knows how you play. Should the Royals move forward, they will likely face off against Elans de Garneau. In a match worthy of a gold medal, it’ll be hard to say who will win. To be frank, if you were to watch any match of the tournament, this would be the one to watch. The winner goes on to play gold against likely the Algonquin Thunder, who have what it takes to run the Group A table.
Because the tournament is double elimination, the Royals will only have one chance at gold. Should the Royals drop to Garneau, the bronze medal will still be in reach. It’ll take quite a bit of work to get there, but the Royals will have what it takes. A bronze semi-finals match will see them take on Group A opponents, which will likely be the GPRC Wolves. The Wolves, who barely squeaked by the Ooks in the ACAC Championships, have some history with the Royals. They met in the exact same spot last year, and the Royals will probably have what it takes to push them to the sides en-route to bronze.
Ironically, the bronze medal battle will likely see the NAIT Ooks facing off against the Royals once again. The Dalhousie Rams are slight underdogs to make it the distance due to their home field advantage. No matter who the Royals will face off against, they stand a very good chance of taking home some hardware. Of course, gold would be preferred, but the real value out of this year will be the learning. The Royals host CCAA National Championships next year, where they have the opportunity to win their first National gold medal on home soil.
