By Doug Sullivan

Special to the Echo

The HHSS girls soccer teams got off to a good start this season on May 1 despite being unable to practice or play on their home field due to winter damage. The junior and senior teams travelled to Lindsay for their season opening games.

The senior girls played first against St. Thomas. The Red Hawks forwards showed in the first few minutes that they were going to pose problems for the home team. Jessica Byers opened the scoring with a calm finish on a Melissa Brinkos cross. That goal was quickly followed with strikes by Natalya Gimon and another one by Brinkos. With the game clearly in hand the Red Hawks eased off the throttle and worked on dominating possession and maintaining their defensive posture. Nicole Cox and Paige Billings rounded out the scoring as the girls finished with a 5-0 victory. Hawks goalkeepers Chloe Samson and Kiera Casey shared the shut out.

The juniors faced Norwood in the second game. The Norwood squad started aggressively seeking revenge after losing to the Red Hawks in last year’s COSSA championship final. With almost a full squad of returning players the junior Hawks were up for the challenge. They dominated possession and used a strong passing game to slowly take over. They rolled to a 5-0 victory with Gillian Rosik leading the way with two goals while Olivia Melle Alexius Mills and Hayley Boylan rounded out the scoring. Boylan Brooke Stover Courtney Semach and Ava Smith controlled the midfield giving goalkeeper Connie Oh a relatively easy time in earning her shutout.

The juniors also travelled to Peterborough’s St. Thomas on May 3 to face the Kenner Rams on May 3. Despite an evenly played first half the Red Hawks found themselves down a goal as Kenner pounced on a loose ball from a bad bounce (for the Hawks) to open the scoring. The team worked hard in the second half with Rosik and Boylan teaming up well to create chances but they were unable to find the back of the net. The Rams scored two more times on a couple of brilliant strikes and finished with a 3-0 victory. Danaya McDuff was the stand out player of the match for the Red Hawks.

The junior team is coached by Doug Sullivan and Amy Klose while the seniors are coached by Janice Scheffee and Sullivan.

The A designated Hawks seniors and juniors teams were shut out by AAA school I.E. Weldon on Wednesday May 8. The teams played with effort and passion but lost to a strong side and will use the experience to develop and prepare for the coming post-season in hopes to advance to the COSSA A championship.