SDSSAA Premier Soccer teams gear up for post season

The dust finally settled on the 2014 SDSSAA Premier Soccer regular season schedule, though where it eventually landed was likely where few would have originally predicted.

The Confederation Chargers girls team will go into the post-season as the No. 1 seed, securing first place on Wednesday with a 1-0 win over the Collège Notre-Dame Alouettes.

A second-half goal from Shayna Graham combined with the third shutout of the season from Taryn Lavallee allowed the Chargers to finish the year with a record of 4-0-2, leaving them one point clear of the Marymount Regals.

Both Confederation and Marymount have earned a first-round bye, and given the overall parity this year, the free pass is particular key as two very competitive teams head to the sidelines this afternoon, eliminated in quarter-final play.

With an undefeated mark of 3-0-3, the Lockerby Vikings will face the St. Charles College Cardinals following a 2-0 season-closing victory over the Bishop Carter Gators. That will leave CND to battle it out against the Lo-Ellen Park Knights in the remaining first-round matchup.

On the boys side, Confederation remained a thorn in the side of higher profile soccer schools, playing to a 1-1 draw against Notre-Dame on Wednesday after upsetting Lockerby 1-0 earlier in the year.

The Alouettes opened the scoring courtesy of Eric Sampson in the first half, with Brendyn Sauvé pulling the Chargers even over the final 40 minutes. Finishing in fourth place with a record of 2-2-2, coach Paul Korzeniecki (CFD) and company will now do battle with the St. Charles College Cardinals, one point back with a record of 2-3-1.

Notre-Dame and Lo-Ellen meet in the remaining quarter-final contest, with the front-running St. Benedict Bears(6-0-0) and Lockerby Vikings(4-2-0) both earning some time off until Monday.

In a battle of the top two teams in the girls Second Division, the St. Benedict Bears and Lasalle Lancers played to a 1-1 deadlock before lightning ended the match with roughly 10 minutes still to play.

Sara Cholewinsky (STB) and Karly Hellstrom (LAS) handled the scoring as the teams took to the pitch with light drizzle before dealing with an absolute deluge in the final 10-15 minutes leading up to the game being halted.

While the Premier Divisions will wrap up their city finals May 29, the Second Division teams do not begin the first round of their playoffs until June 4.