Bendigo Senior Secondary College girl's football team kicked of its School Sport Victoria season with a win over Catherine McAuley College.
The BSSC Lions finished the game with a 25-point lead over CMC, with the final scores at 5.9 (39) to 2.2 (14).
BSSC had a strong start to the match with two goals in the first half and managed to contain CMC to one point.
However, the win didn't without challenges, in the way of CMC staging a strong comeback early in the second half to climb within 10 points of BSSC.
But the BSSC girls took back control of the game, with help from strong plays across the midfield to seal victory.
Goals: Jemma Finning, Bree Heiden, Mia Ward, Emily Cooper, and Amy Cooper.
BSSC coach Dean Sheldrick was happy with the effort from the team, but picked up on areas where there was room for improvement.
"The team was a little bit inaccurate in front of the goals with the final tally at 5.9," Sheldrick said.
"And going into the second half CMC controlled the first few minutes and kicked a couple of nice goals.
"But after that we gained control and I was really impressed with how the girls moved the ball - they all linked up really well.
"Especially in the midfield, they were able to get the ball to the runners easily - they played some really exciting football."
The team will now progress to the Loddon Mallee regional finals which will be held on May 29.
BSSC will take on teams such as Mildura Senior College, with Sheldrick keen to overcome the squad which is peppered with Bendigo Pioneers' players.
"They will be a strong team - there are some great players from the Pioneers in addition to some academy girls," Sheldrick said.
"We're going to have to play our best footy if we want to keep progressing."
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