HIGH ACHIEVERS: Foot injury ruins rewarding Simon Fraser University soccer season for Katie Richardson

By Martin Cleary

Ottawa South United Soccer Club grad Katie Richardson is all too familiar with lacing up her soccer boots for practices and games.

But that tedious routine recently hit a serious snag for the Simon Fraser University Red Leafs’ defender.

She started the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship game wearing her traditional soccer boots and played a solid opening 16 minutes and 39 seconds.

But she finished the game wearing a medical walking boot to protect her injured foot, after she took a blind-sided hit from an opposing player. X-rays showed Richardson didn’t have a fracture and she was diagnosed with a sprain to the middle of her left foot.

The Red Leafs won their first-ever GNAC women’s soccer title as Richardson went from being a starter to finishing as a supporter, cheering her squad from the team bench.

The upset victory qualified the Red Leafs for a berth in the NCAA Division II women’s soccer championship tournament. But Richardson’s medical boot kept her on the sidelines as a super supporter.

“It sucked not being a part of it. I would have been a part of it, if I didn’t have that boot on,” a disappointed Richardson said about her early conference final exit and being a scratch for the NCAA opener.

“I was on the bench and there were some nerves. I wanted to be out there. I wish I could have played more to help the girls.”

The play that resulted in her swollen foot caught her by total surprise.

“In the 17th minute, a girl came in, but I’m not sure,” Richardson explained. “Someone took my legs out … and my foot bone was jammed.

“I got up and tried to walk and said ‘Oh, my God. I can’t move.’ I came off the field for the better of the team.”

Once her foot was placed in a boot and she started to move around with crutches, Richardson cheered for her teammates from the bench.

“I was really proud of the girls remaining calm and composed,” said Richardson, who had plenty of reasons to remain upbeat on the bench during the GNAC championship tournament.

The fourth-place Red Leafs (5-5-4, 8-5-6 overall) scored three goals in the opening 40 minutes and upset the undefeated and first-place Seattle Pacific University (9-0-5, 13-3-5) 4-2 in the semifinals. It was the first time in conference history a fourth-seeded team had defeated the top-seeded team.

In the championship game, Simon Fraser faced Western Washington University (9-2-3, 12-5-4) and the Red Leafs manufactured another historic result. Simon Fraser scored a rare victory over Western Washington by a 2-1 margin and became the first fourth-place team to capture the conference title.

Simon Fraser’s first entry into the NCAA Division II women’s soccer championship was short lived, but they had a marathon game in their only performance. In 2010, Simon Fraser joined the NCAA.

California State University-Los Angeles and Simon Fraser needed penalty kicks to decide their opening championship game. Neither team scored a goal in regulation time or three 10-minute overtime periods.

Simon Fraser threatened to score more than California State, placing nine of its 21 shots on goal, while the American side managed to put only four of its 13 shots on the Red Leafs’ goalkeeper.

Richardson is in her fourth year of studying elementary education, but has only played for the Simon Fraser women’s soccer team for the past three seasons. Her 2020 soccer season was cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2023 campaign has been memorable for Richardson from a personal sense. While she collected two assists and had one, top-corner goal declined because of a foul, she was part of the Red Leafs’ defence which was ranked third in the GNAC for goals allowed.

Her overall play earned her a berth on the GNAC second all-star team, after being named an honourable mention in 2022, when she scored her first and only goal and added an assist.

Richardson started all 18 games she played in and was on the field for 1,343 minutes this season. She also took seven shots.

Her career totals are 49 games played, 43 starts, one goal and three assists for four points, 23 shots and five shots on goal and 3,629 minutes on the field.

“Being named an honourable mention was a good start for me. But it’s not where I wanted to be,” Richardson, a graduate of John McCrae Secondary School, indicated.

She took another step forward this season.

“I was really proud of this (second all-star team selection),” she added. “There’s a little room to go to be on the first team.

“I have that tenacity, willingness to go forward, like an offensive defender. Just being a defender isn’t going to get you into the highly respected category. You’ve got to have offensive traits as well to be considered for awards.”

CANADA WINS PARAPAN-AM GAMES SILVER IN MIXED WHEELCHAIR RUGBY

Undefeated Canada was forced to settle for the silver medal Thursday in mixed wheelchair rugby at the Parapan-American Games in Santiago, Chile.

The United States outscored Canada in every quarter to roll and bang its way to a 57-51 verdict in the gold-medal game. The Americans outscored Canada 14-12, 13-12, 13-11 and 17-16 in each quarter.

Co-captain Patrice Dagenais of Embrun, ON., scored the final try of the game and his only one for Canada with 29 seconds remaining. He had 11 minutes and three seconds of floor time.

Meanwhile in women’s goalball, Canada is scheduled to play the United States on Friday for the gold medal and the region’s final available berth in the Paralympics.

Brazil scored first and last, but Canada notched four goals in between for a 4-2 upset victory in the semifinals. The U.S. outscored Argentina 8-1 in its semifinal.

Emma Reinke of Ottawa scored three goals off 46 throws and Amy Burk of Ottawa had a successful penalty shot to account for Canada’s scoring. Burk finished with a team-high 50 throws.

“This is amazing, it’s a surreal moment,” Burk said via the Canadian Paralympic Committee. “We’ve never been to play for a Parapan Am gold medal and we’re just taking it one step at a time. Brazil is a really amazing team, and we knew to beat them we were going to have bring our A game, and we executed it right from the hop.”

For the second straight game, Canada couldn’t get a shot on net and dropped a 6-0 decision to the United States in CP soccer. Canada finished the six-team round-robin in sixth place at 0-5.

Ottawa’s Sam Charron, who scored two of Canada’s three goals at the Games and assisted on the third goal, missed his second match in a row because of a hamstring issue.

Canada is slated to meet Chile on Friday in the fifth- and sixth-place classification game.

OTTAWA BASKETBALL TEAMS UNDEFEATED AT OFSAA GIRLS’ CHAMPIONSHIPS

All three National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association representatives at the three OFSAA girls’ basketball championships posted wins in their opening games on Thursday.

Ottawa champion Osgoode Panthers controlled their class A match in Belleville from the start and rolled to a 62-30 victory over Elmvale District. The Panthers led 18-7 after the first quarter and 39-14 at halftime.

Béatrice-Desloges received 26 points from Alexia Schryburt and 13 points from Elodie Bard en route to a 61-46 class AA win over McKinnon Park of Caledonia in Guelph.

Top-seeded Arnprior District, which won the bronze medal in 2022, turned back St. Augustine of Markham 58-15. The quarter scores were 20-0, 35-2 and 50-9 in Arnprior’s favour.

At the class AAA tournament in Hamilton, St. Mother Teresa broke open a close match in the third quarter and defeated Frontenac of Kingston 47-37. St. Mother Teresa led 12-11, 22-19 and 37-28 at the quarter breaks.

Béatrice-Desloges and Franco-Cité won three preliminary pool matches each in their respective tournaments at the Ontario boys’ volleyball championships.

At the class AA championship in Stratford, second-seeded Béatrice-Desloges downed Leamington 25-17, 25-18, Lorne Park of Mississauga 25-19, 25-15 and fifth-seeded Francis Liberman of Toronto 29-27, 23-25, 15-12.

Garneau split its first two AA round-robin matches, losing to Silverthorn of Toronto 25-22, 25-20, but defeating Twins Lakes of Orillia 25-19, 25-19.

Sixth-seeded Franco-Cité won six straight sets in the provincial class AAA championship in Belle River, defeating A.B. Lucas of London 25-17, 26-24, Huron Heights of Newmarket 25-14, 25-16 and top-seeded Ursuline College 29-27, 27-25.

At the class A championship in Kitchener, Notre Dame fell to Père René de Galinée of Cambridge 25-12, 25-15 and the University of Toronto Schools 25-17, 25-21.