The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The Anatol Rodgers Timberwolves stunned the St Andrew’s Hurricanes in the under-18 girls’ game, while the Aquinas College Aces pounded the Government High Magic in the boys’ game yesterday.

While the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Bahamas Football Association’s 2019 Samuel Haven National High School Soccer Championships got started, the Timberwolves pulled off a 1-0 win over the Hurricanes, and the Aces came up with a big 5-1 decision over the Magic to move onto the second round on Thursday.

The two games were the first placed yesterday before the opening ceremonies in which Minister of Education Jeffrey Lloyd opened the three-day championships at the Roscow Davies Developmental Center.

Two games followed with the CR Walker Knights taking on Grand Bahama’s Sunland Baptist girls and Lucayan International boys faced CR Walker, but no scores were available up to press time.

Timberwolves 1, Hurricanes 0

Destiny St Fleur came through in the second half with the lone goal of the senior girls’ game to enable Anatol Rodgers to win the first game of this year’s tournament and a berth into the semi-finals.

“It was a lot of work,” said the 14-year-old ninth grader St Fleur, who switched from the left to the right and booted in the goal from the corner against two defenders. “I was in the moment.”

Anatol Rodgers’ coach Oliver Lynch said it was a well-deserved victory. “The sun was working against us in the first half and we started out flat,” he said. “But after we got the break and discussed our plan, we went back out and scored the one goal we needed to pull off the win.”

The Timberwolves will now prepare to face Lyford Cay in Thursday’s opener at 4:30pm and Oliver said he’s looking forward to the same type of intensity. St Fleur said their aim is to score more goals.

Both Anatol Rodgers’ goal keeper Ashanti Strachan and St Andrew’s Raven Deveaux made it an exciting game from start to finish. St Fleur just managed to break it up with the lone goal in the second half.

Aces 5, Magics 1

Aquinas College got a pair of goals from Robenskey Nevilas and Jordan Freemantle and another from Tekeyo Poitier as they took full control of their senior boys’ game.

In fact, the Aces put three goals on the scoreboard in the first half and they were never challenged.

“I felt good about our performance. It was a good game,” said Aquinas College’s coach Raymond Knight, who was assisted by Ricardo Freemantle. “The team went out there to win and so I’m happy with their performance. “We expected to win, but I didn’t know we would have had five goals. That is awesome. This was really a good start in the championship for us.”

Knight said they are looking forward to their semi-final match on Thursday against Lyford Cay.

“We lost to them in the championship, but we feel we have something for them,” he said. “We are looking at a different line-up, so they better be ready for the element of surprise.”