ACC Hockey Challenge South West

ACC Hockey Challenge South West

On Thursday, 22nd June the St Mary MacKillop College girls and boys hockey teams travelled to Bunbury to play against three other schools in the ACC Hockey competition for the South West.

Our boys’ team knew they would be facing a challenging day, with half the team made up of Year 7 and Year 8 students. But all the players were excited and pumped up for their first game against Frederick Irwin. Positive attitude and some great play saw St Mary MacKillop College win their first game 2-0, with a back stick ‘toma’ from Sam Tolley and a fast clean strike from Villiers Fourie.

The girls’ first game was against Bunbury Catholic College. It was a tough start as the newly formed team took some time getting to know their positions and each other. Bunbury scored two quick goals, but we soon settled in and replied with two goals of our own from Sailor Townsend and Naomi Hill, before finally going down 3-2.

The boys had gained confidence from their first win, but the second game against Bunbury Cathedral Grammar was a real tussle from the outset, with our strong defense matching everything Grammar could throw at us. Although the boys had limited chances to score, our Year 7 goalie, Maxwell Watson, kept us in the game. It came down to the last play in the last seconds of the game to see Bunbury Grammar come away with the winning point after flicking it high into the net off a short corner.

The second game for the girls was against Frederick Irwin from Mandurah. This was a solid effort from our girls, who had started to work together well. The final score reflected this, as they managed to keep Frederick Irwin scoreless for a 2-0 finish.

After two strong battles, the MacKillop boys were very positive leading into the last round playing Bunbury Catholic College, but at the first pass it was clear this last one was going to be tough battle. BCC had scored within minutes, putting our boys on the back foot. Year 12 leaders Villiers Fourie, Fergus Brown and Nicholas Piva worked hard, and showed they were not going to back away from the challenge put to them. But Bunbury Catholic College proved to be the better team on the day with a 3-0 win.

The girls’ final game was against Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School. The girls played well in both attack and defence, but BCGS were too strong, defeating us 3-0. Mrs Culnane made special mention of Year 9 student Ella Du Preez, who she said was “consistently strong in all areas of her game”.

Both teams came away holding their heads high after putting in huge efforts across the field. Boys’ coach Mr Miles Armstrong said they showed the best sportsmanship from any team on the day. “It was a pleasure to take this group to Bunbury for hockey,” agreed girls’ coach Mrs Camilla Culnane. “They were a credit to the College, and all gave a hundred and ten percent”.
“We are looking forward to next year,” added Mr Armstrong. “We’ll be an older and stronger team”.

Ms Sandra Smith umpired and organised the day.