Cards kick off soccer season with wins

The St. Charles Cardinals girls soccer team took advantage of a delay in the local high school season.

With the turf at the James Jerome Sports Complex deemed not quite playable last week, the Cards were off to Toronto, taking part in a pre-season tournament.

That extra field time may just have made a difference as the Cards opened the 2015 season with a 1-0 win over the Marymount Regals on Tuesday afternoon. Summer Butterfly netted the only goal of the game, late in the second half, while Cardinals' keeper Julia Kinna recorded the shutout.

Now in Grade 12, veteran midfielder Karley McGlade is optimistic about the mix of talent St. Charles has assembled this year.

"We just lost one senior player, but we gained a lot of grade nines, and they're doing very well," said McGlade. "Most of them played competitive. It looks like we have a good team this year."

Moving from her traditional post as an outside mid to a defensive holding mid position on the inside, McGlade was a key contributor on the game-winning goal.

As with any season opening game, instructions from the bench were limited, with one key message from coaches Kristy and Erik Hebert.

"They wanted us to try our hardest, and put into practice what we learned down south, connecting the ball," said McGlade.

The St. Charles boys made it two for two for the Cardinals crew, posting a 3-0 whitewash of the Macdonald-Cartier Panthères.

Aidan Martel led the way offensively for St. Charles, scoring twice, with Ryan Mooney rounding out the attack. Harry Smith and Hadden Williamson shared the shutout for the Cardinals.

Meanwhile, the defending city champions also kicked things off on a winning note, as the St. Benedict Bears trimmed the Collège Notre-Dame Alouettes 1-0. Brandon Moxam drilled home the only goal of the game, while Connor Vande Weghe remained flawless in net, turning aside anything the Als could throw at him.

Action resumes on Thursday with three more games, as the Notre-Dame and Marymount girls meet at 4 p.m., followed by the St. Charles and Notre-Dame boys, and finally the lads from St. Benedict and Macdonald-Cartier. All games are slated for James Jerome.