OXFORD: The Riverside Education Centre’s (REC) girls’ soccer team made school history on October 29, capturing the regional championship in Oxford.
This completed a rare and remarkable sweep for REC, as both the boys’ and girls’ squads claimed regional banners on the same day.
The girls opened the tournament with a tense matchup against St. Andrew Junior High.
Despite end-to-end action, neither team could break through, leaving the score 0–0 after regulation.
Two five-minute overtime halves also solved nothing, setting up a penalty-kick showdown to decide who would advance to the final.
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Under pressure, Riverside’s shooters stayed composed.
Jordyn Shreenan, Kyra Barnes, and Alyssa Barbrick each buried their shots from the spot.
In goal, keeper Blair Livingstone delivered a clutch performance as the Nine Mile River product stopped three of four St. Andrew attempts and allowing just one goal.
Livingstone’s calm focus sealed the shootout win and punched REC’s ticket to the championship final.
The final match proved equally dramatic.
Riverside struck early, with Barnes and Zooey Connor each finding the back of the net within the opening 10 minutes to put REC ahead 2–0.
Oxford responded shortly after with a goal of their own, cutting the lead in half.
The remainder of the first half featured strong defensive play and back-and-forth chances, but no further scoring.
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As the clock ticked down in the second half, the referee’s whistle blew, and for a brief moment, players and fans believed the game was over.
But play resumed after a handball call in the box awarded Oxford a penalty kick.
With the season on the line, Livingstone once again came up huge, diving to stop the shot, and she quickly recovered to smother the rebound, hearing the final three blows of the whistle signalling the game’s end and preserving the 2–1 victory.
Her save sparked an eruption from teammates and supporters as Riverside claimed its second regional banner of the day capping off a thrilling championship run and marking a first in school history.
