Last week, we celebrated the culmination of the Winter IGSSA season with an impressive five Wilderness teams qualifying for a Grand Final by finishing in the top two teams in the minor rounds.

To kick the week of finals off, we had our Premier League and Division 1 Soccer playing against Scotch and Seymour respectively. Our Premier League girls played an exceptionally competitive match away at Scotch against the undefeated Scotch team. Our girls kept the pressure on Scotch throughout the match but were unable to score against an outstanding keeper, with Scotch taking the match 1-0.

Our Division 1 girls, having lost only once in the minor rounds against Seymour, were set for a rematch in the Grand Final. Wilderness were up for the challenge and played an excellent game, scoring two goals to take out the Division 1 Shield 2-0. This is the third year in a row that our Division 1 Soccer (formerly Senior B) has won the IGSSA shield! Congratulations to our Soccer girls and coaches for another fantastic season; it is a significant achievement to have Wilderness represented in both shield finals.

Our Senior A AFL girls were up for their first Grand Final appearance in IGSSA AFL. Wilderness opened with purpose, goaling soon after the first whistle and kept their momentum to lead at the half time break. Rain made the third quarter a slog with minimal scoring chances for either team. Scotch found their feet in the final quarter and hit the lead for the first time, managing to hold off the late pressure from Wilderness. The final score was Scotch 2.4.16 and Wilderness 2.2.14. It was an outstanding match and an amazing season for Wilderness AFL.

Saturday saw Wilderness represented in both shield matches for the Senior A and Senior B Badminton teams matching up against Pembroke. Wilderness was the underdog going into the Senior A final with Pembroke having not lost throughout the regular season. Our girls played well, challenging the opposition and forcing Pembroke to work for every point. In the end, Pembroke were the victor with the final scores at 4/7/128 to 2/3/128.

In the Senior B match, Wilderness were looking to continue their run of success from the minor rounds. Pembroke turned up to play and put our girls under significant pressure, playing their best match of the season. Wilderness showed their resilience and held their nerve to take out the Senior B shield with the final scores 4/7/149 to 2/4/136. Wilderness has now held the Senior B shield for the fifth year straight!

U15 Lacrosse Grand Final

Congratulations to our U15 Lacrosse team who finished their season in second place following their hard fought loss on Saturday against Glenelg Lacrosse Club. For this group of players, it was their first Grand Final berth after beating rivals Burnside and Brighton to secure their place.

Wilderness was the only team outside of the Glenelg/Brighton stranglehold to make a Grand Final in any Women’s grade this year, which is a huge achievement.

During the match, Isabel Jackson (Year 9) piled on an additional five goals to her record-breaking season total, while Lucia Andrae (Year 9) tallied three. Unfortunately, Glenelg were just too strong, taking out the win 17-8.

Congratulations to all players, it has been an incredible season and the growth of this team has been remarkable. Lacrosse is well and truly alive at Wilderness.

Rebecca Keller
Lacrosse Coordinator