Lunenburg Lasers SC honoured on the local Wall of Fame

The 1984 Lunenburg Lasers SC women’s team have been honoured on the Lunenburg County Sports Wall of Fame. The national bronze medal winners were honoured on Sunday 5 November as part of the Class of 2023 at the Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre.

The Lasers were the first women’s team to win a medal at Canada Soccer’s National Championships when they finished in third place at Ste-Thérèse in Québec. The Nova-Scotia based club beat Ontario’s Scarborough United Rowdies in the Match for Third Place on a goal by Carolyn Naugler.

The Lasers lineup featured Rachel Bachman (co-captain), Denyse Cook (co-captain), Kim Ashford, Susan Collicutt, Carolyn Covey, Nicolette Devries, Aletha Hardiman, Sharon Knickle, Diane Levander, Yvonne Lohnes, Krista McCafferty, Shelley Mosher, Carolyn Naugler, Karen Naugler, Kathy Naugler, June Saunders, and Chris Thornhill. The team was coached by Bob Sayer and managed by Warren Mosher.

“In 1984, we just about had a perfect season,” said coach Sayer at the banquet. “We won (almost) everything that was winnable in women’s soccer.”

That 1984 team won the Metro Women’s League, the League Cup, the President’s Cup, the Nova Scotia provincial championship, and the Atlantic Championship. After beating Halifax Christopher’s in the provincial final at Bridgewater, they beat the Fredericton Schooner Arms and Hunter River Merchants in the Atlantic Championship at Charlottetown. At the national tournament in Ste-Thérèse, they won 3-1 over Verts de Sherbrooke, lost 3-1 to James Bay SC, and won 1-0 over Scarborough United Rowdies.

In a seven-year span from 1980 to 1986, the Lunenburg Lasers SC were six-time Nova Scotia champions and one-time runners up (1983). After Canada Soccer inaugurated its national amateur women’s championship in 1982, they finished third in 1984, fourth in 1985 and fifth in 1986.