MVP Jane Pope leading Holy Cross FC’s run for a repeat

From Halifax – by Richard Scott

You’d be at your own peril to ever overlook the champions in any sport. If Holy Cross FC were a team of destiny in 2022, they’re the team to beat in 2023 at Canada Soccer’s Toyota National Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Last year, the St. John’s club became the first Newfoundland & Labrador women’s team to ever win the Jubilee Trophy as national champions. Coming from Canada’s eastern-most province, they capitalised on their “underdog” status and went undefeated against the so-called “bigger” provinces.

Now that they’re national champions, it’s unlikely they’ll catch their opponents by surprise in 2023, but that may not stop them from repeating as national champions in Halifax. They’re a special team and they have a special player in attacking winger Jane Pope, the Most Valuable Player of the 2022 finals in Vaughan, Ontario.

“We’ve been at it a long time with a few core girls and we just believe in ourselves,” said Pope, now taking part in her sixth National Championships since 2014. “That first game last year against Victoria we came out on fire, we were up 4-0 after 20 minuets and then we just powered through. We’re from Newfoundland, so teams may (think to) kind of take advantage of us sometimes, but we used that as our advantage in that tournament last year and we’re trying to do that again this year.”

Pope was a deserving MVP last year after she scored five goals and six assists in four games. Holy Cross finished the tournament with 16 goals, the best goals-per-game average ever by a Newfoundland & Labrador team at the Jubilee Trophy finals.

“I guess I’ve been at it a long time and I’m just learning from previous years,” said Pope after her two-goal performance in the opening match at the 2023 National Championships. “I try to be as fit as I can and just use the support from my team. They definitely help me be the player that I am and I wouldn’t be here without them or our coach (Noel Stanford).”

To win this year’s National Championships, Holy Cross FC will need to finish first in Group A to reach the Final after round-robin matches against Winsloe-Charlottetown FC, Edmonton Drillers, Fredericton Picaroons and Surrey United SC. If they can do that, they’ll meet the Group B winners on Teck Finals Day in the Monday Final at Mainland Commons (09.30 local / 10.00 NT / 08.30 ET / 05.30 PT).

In Newfoundland & Labrador, Holy Cross FC won their eighth consecutive provincial title, notably making it four in a row against Feildians AA in the 2023 Final. Pope scored 17 goals in 18 league matches before the playoffs while teammate Teri Murphy scored the lone goal in the 2023 Final.

“We went back and forth with them, but when the Final came we manage to get that one lone goal and come here,” said Pope of the team’s journey back to the National Championships. “It was definitely a battle, but we pulled through together as a team and we’re happy to be here.”

Pope is one of 16 returning players from last year’s National Championships and she is part of a core group of players that have been together for more than a decade. There are nine Holy Cross players that won a youth runners up medal in 2013 at Canada Soccer’s U-18 Cup in 2013. Five of them – Pope, Alyssa Armstrong, Connie Lewis, Jessie Noseworthy and Noelle Stanford – also won a youth runners up medal at Canada Soccer’s U-16 Cup in 2011.

Like Pope said, the group has been together for a long time and it’s the team’s belief in each other that has helped them excel on the national stage. They’ve come to Halifax with a clear goal in mind: to defend their title and become the first Newfoundland & Labrador team, men or women, to repeat as national champions.

With Pope on the attack, the opportunity is right in front of them. Just don’t expect their opponents underestimate them ever again.