The thrill of victory

Photographing a championship game at any level is like covering a 90-minute trailer leading up to the fleeting feature. It’s all about the “jubo.”
With so much at stake in a winner-take-all finale, the action is bound to be intense. So is the emotion.
Capturing the former is a given. Shooting the latter is usually the product of intuition, positioning and having the players turn your way.
At the BC High School AAA senior girls soccer championship on Friday, the local team I was there to cover dominated the run of player over a younger, upstart underdog. But they couldn’t score.
The match went into overtime, scoreless.
I knew I had some good action in the camera, so with a few minutes left before the match would go to penalty kicks, I moved from my usual position behind the end touch line to a spot along the sideline near midfield.
One goal by either team would be decisive, releasing a season’s worth of emotion, on the pitch as well as the bench, and being on the sideline near the team benches put me in a better position to capture that. (Plus I wouldn’t have to walk as far if the match went to a penalty kick shootout, which usually happens at one end of the field or the other.)
And sure enough, when a player from the team I was covering squeaked a shot through the legs of the opposing goalkeeper in the last two minutes of the second overtime half, she turned back towards her teammates running towards her, all their faces alight with joy, excitement and exultation. The despairing opponent in the background was just a lucky coincidence.

MARIO BARTEL/THE TRI-CITY NEWS Centennial Centaurs forward Sophia Ferreira, centre, is hugged by teammates after she scored the winning goal in their 1-0 win over the Fleetwood Park Dragons in Friday’s BC High School AAA senior girls soccer championship at the University of British Columbia’s Thunderbird Stadium.

MARIO BARTEL/THE TRI-CITY NEWS Centennial Centaurs goalkeeper Kelsey Eckert and Matisse Jones embrace as they celebrate their team’s dramatic 1-0 overtime win over Fleetwood Park secondary school in the BC High School AAA senior girls soccer championship, Friday at UBC’s Thunderbird Stadium.

MARIO BARTEL/THE TRI-CITY NEWS Centennial Centaurs midfielder Danae Robillard clashes with Fleetwood Park Dragons defender Sarah Tortora.

MARIO BARTEL/THE TRI-CITY NEWS Centennial Centaurs forward Sophia Ferreira is knocked off the ball by Fleetwood Park Dragons defender Parveen Braich.

MARIO BARTEL/THE TRI-CITY NEWS Centennial Centaurs midfielder Danae Robillard works her way around Fleetwood Park Dragons defender Harjot Uppal.

MARIO BARTEL/THE TRI-CITY NEWS Centennial Centaurs forward Sophia Ferreira wins a header from Fleetwood Park Dragons’ Mackenzie Fox.

MARIO BARTEL/THE TRI-CITY NEWS Centennial Centaurs forward Jessica Carravatta tries to gain an advantage of Fleetwood Park Dragons defender Niki Virk.

MARIO BARTEL/THE TRI-CITY NEWS Players on Centennial’s bench react as time winds down in their 1-0 overtime win over Fleetwood Park secondary school at the BC High School AAA senior girls soccer championship, Friday at UBC’s Thunderbird Stadium.

MARIO BARTEL/THE TRI-CITY NEWS Fleetwood Park Dragons’ Christa Wright wins a corner kick in the first half of their BC High School AAA senior girls soccer championship against the Centennial Centaurs, Friday at the Unversity of British Columbia’s Thunderbird Stadium.

MARIO BARTEL/THE TRI-CITY NEWS Centennial Centaurs’ Jessa Vance battles Fleetwood Park Dragons’ Sarah Tortora for control of a header.

MARIO BARTEL/THE TRI-CITY NEWS Centennial Centaurs forward Sophia Ferreira celebrates her overtime game-winning goal as Fleetwood Park Dragons defender Jenieva Musico protests in disbelief in Friday’s BC High School AAA senior girls soccer championship at the Univeristy of British Columbia’s Thunderbird Stadium.

MARIO BARTEL/THE TRI-CITY NEWS Centennial Centaurs midfielder Danae Robillard clashes with Fleetwood Park Dragons defender Sarah Tortora.

MARIO BARTEL/THE TRI-CITY NEWS Centennial Centaurs forward Raegan Mackenzie works her way around Fleetwood Park Dragons defender Priya Uppal late in the second overtime half of their BC High School AAA senior girls soccer championship, Friday at the University of British Columbia’s Thunderbird Stadium. Centennial won the match, 1-0.

MARIO BARTEL/THE TRI-CITY NEWS Centennial Centaurs forward Sophia Ferreira wins a header from Fleetwood Park Dragons’ Mackenzie Fox.