Tuesday's first-place tilt in the St. Albert Women's Soccer League brought out the very best in Mavericks 09.
The division one pennant contenders improved to 11-1 after handing Storm United their first loss of the season with a convincing 4-0 decision at Grosvenor field.
"It's awesome because we've been working towards this all season," striker Lindsey Hornung said after scoring once and assisting on Lisa McTaggart's goal. "I'm not surprised we won but really happy."
Both teams have six matches remaining, including pivotal contests against the third-place Morinville Ladies (10-2). The top team will represent the league at the tier IV provincials next month in Edmonton.
"This loss isn't going to set us back," said Chantal Gauthier, a forward with the 10-1-1 Storm. "We've been doing really well and I'm sure we'll continue to play like that throughout the rest of the season."
Last year Morinville finished one point ahead of the Mavericks for their fifth pennant in six years.
"Morinville is tough and we have to play hard to beat them like we did before," Hornung said of the team's 3-2 win over Morinville in June.
The Mavericks are the real deal under head coach Shane Moore after posting an impressive 15-3 record last year.
"Every year we gain and lose players and with the returning players we have we're just a very solid squad," Hornung said. "It all starts with really good leadership. We're reaching Shane's vision. He's a super supportive coach. He's super communicative. He tells us how to improve in a really positive manner so it's really nice to make things happen the right way and make him happy for all of us."
The rematch of the 2-0 Storm win in June was sweet revenge for the Mavericks.
"We expected a challenge and we knew they were expecting a challenge too because it's pretty competitive in this league," Hornung said. "The difference was the time in the season. Our formations are really coming together now and everyone is playing really well. We're passing really, really well these days too."
The Storm surrendered a division-low five goals in 11 games until the highest-scoring offence (4.6 goals per game) ramped up the attack with three markers in the first half. Hornung's tally in the 54th minute wrapped up the scoring.
"It starts at the back, honestly. We have some really strong outside Ds that make the runs up the lanes and our sweeper Sam [Kinniburgh] shows really good leadership back there," Hornung said. "It's really not just one person scoring. We were missing Jen [Bruinsma, the team's top scorer] tonight but other players stepped up."
Explosive start
Sarah Crerar rubbed salt into the wounds of her former club with a rare goal to open the scoring in the sixth minute. Her chip shot from a difficult angle handcuffed Storm keeper Angie Boucher as the ball caught the far top corner.
"We started out hard and continued to play hard," Hornung said.
Tenacious pressure by the Mavericks paid off with Selina Vriend's big boot from the high slot in the 12th minute. A great effort by Melanie Johannesen along the left touchline to keep the ball in play deep in Storm territory allowed Vriend, who ranks near the bottom of the team's scoring chart, to tee up a ball that was unstoppable.
Down by two and out-played by a large margin, the Storm regrouped with a couple of quality chances against keeper Suzanne Schultz, an emergency call-up from Mavericks 95, a second division affiliated team.
The Mavericks eventually got back on track to close out the first half with several scoring opportunities, including a couple of dangerous corner kicks.
In the 34th minute Christie Debienne marched down the right wing and rattled a ball off the top of the crossbar.
A few minutes later, a throw-in allowed Hornung and McTaggart to weave their magic against a disoriented Storm defence. After McTaggart headed the ball to Hornung's feet, the 30-year-old Maverick pushed the ball closer to the net with some dipsy-doodle moves before sliding it across the crease, where it was kicked out to McTaggart. Boucher was down and out after getting pulled out of position by Hornung, as McTaggart finished off one of her few goals of the season.
Giving up three goals before halftime was unheard of by Storm standards.
"I don't know if we were sluggish at the start, I just think we couldn't get our game going and the passes going," Gauthier said.
In the second half, McTaggart set up the fourth goal by flicking a header towards Hornung parked on the edge of the Storm's back line. After distancing herself from the nearest defender, Hornung waited for Boucher to commit before sliding the ball into a wide open net.
With the outcome a done deal, Hornung just missed connecting on two brilliant crosses into the slot by Debienne. An offside call also wiped out a goal by Debienne in the 80th minute.
As for the Storm, their best player by a mile was Ashley Brandt. Their biggest offensive threat ran like the wind, defended hard and generated what few scoring opportunities the Storm mustered.
"We played well. We just didn't get our chances. The other team scored and that's pretty much the bottom line," Gauthier said. "We had a few players that weren't here so we had to juggle up our lines but otherwise we played OK. It was a good match up for us. They're a good team and we're a good team too."
The Mavericks were also short-staffed but still had more subs than the Storm. The Mavericks, along with players from their second division affiliate, were coming off a tournament in Kamloops over the long weekend and some of the first division members barely made it back it time for Tuesday's 7 p.m. kick off. In the 12-team recreation B division, they finished third in pool play with one win and two losses. In the B side semifinals, they blew a two-goal lead and lost 3-2. Bruinsma was acknowledged as the team's MVP of the tournament.
