From Dan Plouffe - Hollywood finish for Hornets striker in ER Cup victory Updated On: October 9, 2013 Fresh off a hockey tournament finish nearly 500 km away in Stoney Creek, Carolyn Williams (left) made a dramatic second-half appearance to score two goals and lift her Gloucester U16 girls to an ER Cup title. It may be time for Carolyn Williams to get a new nickname. Known for years as “Big Red” – for her height and hair colour – the dual soccer and hockey star could easily claim the moniker “Hollywood” after her performance at the East Region Cup finals. The story starts with her Gloucester Hornets team reeling, locked in a 1-1 tie with a persistent West Ottawa Warriors side in the under-16 girls’ championship game. Meanwhile, Williams is returning from a university showcase hockey tournament in Stoney Creek, texting with the team manager the whole way, calculating the time and speed required to make it before the second half begins, at which time players not already present aren’t allowed to enter the game. To add a little suspense, her driver misses the turn to South Gower Park, but the Williams family vehicle eventually finds the right course, speeding down the final dirt road, bouncing over potholes and churning up gravel high into the air. And then from the cloud of smoke and dust emerges the saviour – a flash of red sprinting across the field in sandals, with jersey and cleats in tow, to a cheering crowd of Hornets warriors as their offensive catalyst arrives in the nick of time to present her player’s card to the referee. And just as the fairytale script calls for, the hero scores a pair of goals – one in traffic and another on a break-away after getting whacked in the nose – to lift her team to a 3-1 victory. “She’s a really strong striker – one of the tops in Eastern Ontario,” Gloucester coach George Papandreou notes. “Our first half was not a great start. When Carolyn made her entrance, the energy skyrocketed. Lo and behold, she popped two in for us. It’s fantastic that she made the bell. “It was very ‘Hollywood.’” Smiling as she recounts the drama, Williams explains she did not want to miss what was possibly the last game she’d play with her teammates and good friends. “We worked as a team,” highlights Williams, who’s managed juvenile diabetes along with her athletic pursuits since 1999, just to add a further storybook element to her legend. “It’s pretty awesome,” the St. Peter Catholic High School student adds. “It’s our third year in a row now. That’s sick.” This year’s Gloucester ER Cup victory was different than the previous two, however, since it came on the heels of their first Level 3 league title, following several close calls. Nepean was relegated from the U16 Ontario Youth Soccer League, opening up a place for the Hornets in next year’s OYSL. That could be problematic for Williams since she wouldn’t be able to manage provincial L1 soccer on top of her commitments with the Nepean Jr. Wildcats Provincial Women’s Hockey League team. “If we go OYSL, then I won’t be able to do hockey and soccer,” explains Williams, who enjoyed posing in the same fashion for photos with teammates as the previous two years. “If we’re still regional, I want to play again. We have so much fun.” The club still needs to decide whether to accept the promotion, but competing at the highest level would be the next step for a group that’s continued to improve over the years, Papandreou highlights. “It’s a sign of their growth. It’s a sign of them really sticking together, for two-thirds of the squad, since U12,” he details, noting improvements in the players’ maturity and technical levels. “I think it’s a natural progression” to move up to the OYSL, he adds. “They’ve worked hard and it’s really their last year they can be seen by a (university) scout. If we’re going to go to OYSL, this is the time to do it.” With four, the Gloucester Hornets had the most finalists out of all clubs on the Sept. 15 Cup championship day. Gloucester beat the Ottawa Internationals 4-0 for the U15 boys’ crown, while the Internationals L4 team turned the tables with a U16 boys’ penalty-kicks victory over Gloucester. Ottawa South United topped Gloucester 3-0 to complete a perfect 17-0 run against East Region U13 boys’ competition, where they outscored opponents by a combined 141-9. OSU also won the U13 event on the girls’ side, with the 2000 L3 group topping their 2001 L4 OSU counterparts 2-0, which came on the heels of their Ontario Cup and ERSL crowns. West Ottawa beat Cumberland 3-1 to complete an undefeated U14 boys’ season in ER Cup and ERSL play, while the Internationals U14 girls beat West Ottawa 2-1, and Seaway Valley topped the Cumberland U15 girls in penalty kicks.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 13:10:15 +0000
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