For the third straight year, the host Quw'utsun Secondary T-Birds were in the final of the annual John Ferreira Memorial Field Hockey Tournament. For the second year in a row, they were the runners-up to St. Michael's University School.
The Ferreira tournament is played in memory of John Ferreira, a former Cowichan Secondary and community coach. The event played out Sept. 26 and 27 at the Cowichan Sportsplex and Shawnigan Lake School.
This year, the Ferreira featured 12 teams in two tiers. The tier 1 field included the two finalists along with the first teams from Shawnigan Lake, Brentwood College and Alberni District Secondary schools.
Competing in the Tier 2 event were Shawnigan Lake School's and Brentwood College's, and Alberni Valley District Secondary School's second teams, along with, Queen Margaret's School, Quamichan School, and Oak Bay.
"The games were great," said Quw'utsun head coach Caitlin Erickson.
On Sept. 26, Quw'utsun tied Brentwood 1-1 in the first game of the tournament, and then the team went on to beat Alberni District Secondary School later that morning.
On Sept. 27, Quw'utsun defeated Shawnigan Lake School's tier one team 2-0.
"That was our best game yet," Erickson said. "The team is starting to come together, communicate and trust each other on the field."
The victory propelled Quw'utsun into the final against St. Michael's — the No. 4 ranked 'AAA' field hockey team in the province.
"It was a great game against SMUS," said the coach. "We are excited to match up with SMUS again at the AAA Islands on Oct. 30 at UVic."
After St. Michaels, and Quw'utsun, Shawnigan Lake School, Brentwood College, and Alberni rounded out the Tier 1 standings.
Oak Bay took the Tier 2 title over Quamichan. No placing games were played by the tier's remaining teams.
The area's top teams will meet once more at the long-running Bridgman Cup, which runs Oct. 10-12, in the lead-up to the Island tournament.
