Soccer
8 October, 2024
Local soccer players win representative tournament
The Stawell Pioneers Soccer Club had six representatives in the South West Victoria Football Association (SWVFA) under-16 girls' representative team, which played in the Western United FC Cup in Ballarat from Friday, October 4, to Sunday, October 6.
Not only did they play for the league, but the team won the plate final, which was an unbelievable effort.
The SWVFA posted the following on social media regarding the under-16 and under-13 girls.
"Our U16 girls, coached by Jason Willis and co-captained by Jasmine Siemon and Darcy Venn, brought home the much coveted 2024 Western United Plate Trophy after competing impressively in a challenging draw against overall Cup Runners Up Ballarat FC and Semi-Finalists Calder United (NPL).
The girls defeated GRFC Geelong Association 1-0 in their Semi-Final (Mahli Willis) and then met a strong Barwon FC side in the Plate Grand Final.
The girls fought back from 0-1 to tie the scores at 1-1 (goal to Tessa Phillips) at full-time.
A penalty shootout saw brilliant keeping from Sarita Mueglitz (2 direct saves) and scores to Sarita Mueglitz, Darcy Venn, Mahli Willis, and finally to Bella Perry (elimination winner) that brought our first SWVFA trophy home for 2024.
This is a fantastic achievement for these girls, who included players from Warrnambool Wolves FC, Portland Panthers Soccer Club, Hamilton Soccer Club, Vic Stawell Pioneers Soccer Club and Port Fairy Soccer Club.
"Huge thanks to all the parents, particularly team manager Melissa Mueglitz, for their commitment to supporting these girls' play.
Our U13 girls, coached by Melissa Francis and captained by Zahra Francis, played together as a team incorporating four new players for the tournament. Players came from literally every club in our league, including Warrnambool Rangers FC Horsham & District Soccer Club and Corangamite Lions Football Club.
The U13 girls had a super tough group draw, playing against two other teams that made the U13 Cup Semi-finals (Geelong Galaxy, an NPL2 team, and Keilor Park) and the overall U13 Plate Winners (Tasmania).
While the scoreboard didn’t show it for the first few matches, these girls improved hugely in defence in their group matches. We saw Addison O'Connor make phenomenal saves in every game and terrific forward efforts from our midfield and forwards.
On Saturday afternoon, amidst heavy rain, thunder and lightning, Georgie Milroy broke the drought and put the U13s on the scoreboard against Tasmania. On the final day, the girls pulled off a demonstrative victory, winning 5-0 against the Vikings and showcasing how much they had developed as a team despite the challenges of the first four games. (Scorers: Georgie Milroy, Zahra Francis, Emily Jeppesen, Maisie Nield, and Sofia Lyness)
Our girls were classy for our final match against Doreen and kept their decorum against all odds. The game was highly defensive, and the final score was 0-0.
The girls participated in a penalty shootout and scored 2-3 (goals to Zahra and Emily).
At this stage, enquiries are still pending on whether the shootout counted toward the result, given that the match wasn’t a final.
Overall, our U13 girls showed absolute class and positive support for each other. They pulled off one win, a likely draw (still pending), six field goals, and two penalty goals for the tournament.
Big thanks to all the parents for their encouragement and support of their daughters, particularly Matt Jeppesen for coordinating our lollies and fruit and SWVFA President Nathanael Amartey, who came down on Saturday to assist coach the U13s and supported both our teams.