Appleby College - Argus Yearbook (Oakville, Ontario Canada)

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At last, soccer has come into its own as one of Appleby ' s major sports. It used to be that senior soccer was played by those who could not, or did not want to go into Football. However, as of this year, the situation has changed. People are becoming more en- thusiastic towards what is, after all, the world ' s most popular game. This increased attention paid off, for this 1977 season was one marked by unparalled suc- cess. Near Miss The soccer tournament this year was held on home ground, and was fixed for a Sunday, shortly preceding the regular season. The schools who took part were: S.A.C., U.C.C, Appleby College, Crescent School, The Toronto French School, Pickering College, and St. George ' s College. From the first matches it was apparent that the calibre of play was exceptionally high. Appleby ' s First Team played strongly against even the toughest op- position, and were only eliminated following a hard fought draw with S.A.C., through a series of penalty shots. It was indeed disappointing to lose in such a fashion, but we had a least secured a third place finish. S.A.C. went on to win the trophy. Injuries! The beginning of the regular season was a succession of FRONT ROW: Day, Richards, Marsh, Wood, Mathieson. Cambell, Hammil. SECOND ROW: Hamilton, Mr. Larsen, Van Tighem. Etherington, Lanch, Lytle. Keil, Josselyn, Mr. Revill. First Soccer victories. Pickering, Lakefield, Crescent, Ridley, Toronto French School (an exhibition match) were all defeated. The game against Ridley was our hardest win. Although the opposition in this case had very skillful players they were con- founded by the same deter- mination and tenacity our

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H ' «3:--± r: li W ' ft R ; vj Wr Bt . 9 V i ' l SI ' pass to Jeff Hughes from a touchdown. In the second half the defence did an admirable job of containing the opposition, scoring the tying touchdown themselves on a block kick. Against Hillfield, in one of our last games of the season, we got off to an excellent start, scoring a touchdown on a pass from Withey to Hughes. We then continued to control the play without, however, putting the ball over for a score. Hillfield scored and went ahead in the dying minutes of a marathon first half, and then went on to wear us down with their superior size and strength. It is very much to the team ' s credit, though, that it played hard right up to the end of the game, and was just as keen on the last series of plays as on the first. Stiefenhofer, who began the year at quarterback, moved to tight end, a change which was surprisingly effective. The quarterback was then taken by Rich Lightning Withey who warmed to the position as the season progressed, making use in particular of his good passing arm. On the line, the most ef- fective blocker was Mark Manifould, who doubled as the kicker. One of the most pleasant surprises of the year was the performance of Jeff Hughes as flanker. He was the leading rusher and the leading receiver of the team, achievements that were a bonus in the light of his ex- cellent blocking ability. Another stand-out was Mike Dejaray, who chalked up a lot of tough and well- deserved yardage off-tackle. Defensively, the squad was very tough, thanks to the efforts of all the players. Some of the more colourful ones - Too Tall Mull, Dynomite Dal Bianco, and John Jaws Markley - made unique contributions to the morale of the team. Especially strong on defense were the captain, Mark Cobham, and Doug Locke. Looking ahead to next year, the most important improvements wrill have to be made in the areas of the fimdamentals of the game - things like blocking, crisp execution, and tackling. In ad- dition, it would be encouraging to see the team respond writh more drive and enthusiasm, qualities which should not detract from the enjoyment of the game but which should rather lead to a higher standard of play and more suc- cess.

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defenders and forwards had exhibited in all our previous victories. The path to first place indeed seemed brightly lit at this point in the schedule. Howrever, storm clouds were looming in the horizon. Injury! Members of the team were getting hurt. Sore legs, sore backs, sore ankles - all took their toll of valuable players. Couple to this the loss of John Van Tighem to Northward Bound and one can appreciate the noticeable decline in morale the team experienced going into our match with U.C.C. The U.C.C. game was a classic in the armals of frustration. Time and again we were thwarted from scoring goals, as too, were the opposition. However, fortune did not smile on us. Three minutes from the game ' s end a high, floating shot from an impossible angle, drifted over the goalie ' s head, bounced and was in the net. More injuries! With only half the team sound in limb, we were pitted against S.A.C. Naturally, it was a disaster. The end result was three goals against - despite a nevertheless spirited attempt by those capable of running. We tied our next match with St. George ' s, again suffering injuries, but finally we shook off our slump to win the last game with T.C.S. and finished third overall. The Players The success of ths year ' s team came not so much from ex- ceptional skill as it did through a general enthusiasm for the game and a desire to win. Our forwards (Colin Richards, Nigel Day, Alan Kiel, Greg Marsh and Doug Cambell), although not as quick on the ball as they might have been, played with a determination which resulted in numerous valuable goals. Mid-field was handled more than proficiently by John Hammil, Mark Lanch, and Jamie Mathieson - all of whom gave one hundred and ten percent effort throughout the season. On defense, Paul Etherington, Chris Wood, John Van Tighem and Tom Lytle were exceptional - their clearances, passes and tackling keeping them together. Finally our last line of defense, Dave Josselyn, deserves praise for his solid goalkeeping - espec ially when the going was rough. CoJin fiichards 51