Central's Melissa Parais tries to hold off the Vanier forward.

The Vanier Spirits picked up a 2-1 win over the Central Cyclones on a windy Tuesday afternoon in High School Girls Soccer action at Sunningdale Field.   It was the opening game of the season for both teams and they got more than they bargained for with strong wind gusts blowing throughout the game.

Vanier's Amy Piche says they played a good game, "I think what worked was our communication and just pushing the net, trying to crash the net."

The two teams battled through a scoreless first half with Central getting the better of the chances.  Nikki Armstrong rung one off the cross bar and Lindsay Fish was stoned in close by Vanier's goalie Nathalie Monpetit.

Central continued to press to open the second half and were able to break the tie when Taylor Kell broke up the right side and put the ball right over Monpetit for the 1-0 lead.

The score remained 1-0 for the Cyclones until late in the game as Vanier put the pressure on.  Amanda Miller was stopped in close on the Spirits first good chance of the game.  Vanier finally broke through and struck twice, quickly, to take a 2-1 lead.  Jenna Coates got both goals for the Spirits and they held on for the season opening win.

Central coach Darcy Dorais said his team played great, but just couldn't capitalize on chances with Monpetit standing on her head, "There keeper kept them in the game, I think we dominated, but she made some fantastic stops and that was the difference in the game.  She definitely kept them in.

"For the first game of the season, I was really impressed with how they were moving the ball, staying in their positions, moving from forward to defence was smooth, definitely a great improvement over last year."

The next girls soccer games go on on Thursday with Vanier taking on Peacock and Central in Swift Current.  There's boys action on Wednesday at Gutheridge Field with Vanier on the pitch against Riverview/Cornerstone.