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Time to get out the Vuvuzelas
01/28/2012... Calgary, Alberta - Last year, 2011, the Mount Royal Cougars women’s futsal team captured two of the three regular season Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference futsal tournaments but lost out in the one that count the most; the provincial championships 1-0 to the Medicine Hat Rattlers.
With the ACAC 2012 season ready to kick off tomorrow at Keyano College in Fort McMurray, the Cougars are ready for another season of indoor soccer.
“We'll be ready for all teams but we really want a rematch with Medicine Hat,” said Cougars coach Tino Fusco. “Rattlers, we're coming for ya!”
He continued talking about this year's squad's strength: “The overall strength would be our technical ability to pass and possess the ball. The goal for the squad from a coaching point of view would be to improve our individual and small group defending using the game of futsal.
“Current players in the squad for Mount Royal University this season are Courtney Elliott – first- year midfielder. She has a great work rate and an infectious desire to compete. In addition, Donella Lockhart is a force in futsal as she can strike with both feet and change direction and go by you before you can turn your head.”
With the sport now entering year No. 3 in the ACAC, Fusco believes that futsal is a perfect complement to the outdoor soccer season: “The overall game is the same; create chances to score! We move from 11 players to five players and for coaches and players this simplifies the game. For coaches, you only need to focus on five players on the field as players substitute on the fly; and for players, the game is simpler - four field players to work with instead of 11.
‘It is a good compliment to the fall season. It keeps the squad together during the winter semester but I would like to see all ACAC schools competing in this sport and have to ask the question; "Why all teams are not involved?”
For now the ACAC futsal will consist of six schools.
Look out for the Rattlers as Medicine Hat coach Jim Loughlin returns 80% of his women's futsal gold medal team from 2011: "We have significant experience with futsal and the ability to keep possession and transition quickly to create scoring chances."
Key players returning are: "Jacie Brusky: defender, tactically solid, good passer of ball, third year, team captain, 2011 ACAC Soccer All Star; Kristan Votta: midfield, technically outstanding, fast feet, set up artist, third year; Caroline Lonsdale: midfield, technically/tactically sound, two-way player, hard shot, 2011 ACAC Soccer All Star and defender Kirsten Grover: two-way player, most consistent player during career as a Rattler, third year, 2011 ACAC Soccer All Star."
Of the Rattlers' men Loughlin says: "Good balance between defending and attacking ability. Multiple players capable of scoring for team."
Key players include: Derrick Hammel: forward, fast, quick feet, tenacious, third year, goal scorer, 2011 ACAC All Star; Allan Siwella: midfield, high work rate, strong on ball, goal scorer, two-way player, 2011 ACAC All Star & 2011 CCAA Soccer All Star; Travis Hyde: defender, team captain, outstanding leader, fifth year, hard shot and midfielder Yuki Matsuda who has outstanding technical/tactical ability, set up artist, two-way player."
Keyano College Huskies women take step one or should we say, one kick, tomorrow in an attempt to improve on their bronze medal performance last year in the sport of futsal.
Returning from last year’s Keyano Huskies women's team are Brittany Buist, Stephanie Geary and Jamie Hannigan.
“We have been practising for the entire month spending time to get use to the whole futsal concept, “said Huskies coach Ian Diaz. “We have some big shoes to fill to get back to that bronze medal again.
“As a group the girls are meshing and coming together quite nicely although it has been trying at times as they adapt to the game and the formation we have going on. They are also asking the right questions which are good as futsal requires a lot of movement with and without the ball…if you lose focus for one second the ball in in the back of your net.”
Aside from the returning veterans, Diaz has high praise for former Huskies basketball player April Weigelt, “April will be one to keep an eye on. She has good size and she is very tough to handle defensively when she posts up.”
Of the sport of futsal Huskies' Santiago Raigoza said in an interview with the Fort McMurray TODAY: "This game is considered a lot more creative, a lot more skillful and a lot faster. There is no contact and it looks more like basketball. It’s a lot quicker there’s a lot more goals, there’s a lot more plays and setup. It requires more speed and skill, not as much body size and strength.”
Of the Huskies chances this weekend: "Our goal is to win it for sure, that’s the priority. We’re having difficulty finding players though. For now, we only have five to seven players which means fewer substitutions, so we may be a lot more worn out; so we’ll need to make smart runs.”
Also competing will be the Ambrose University College Lions out of Calgary. Along with competing in the ACAC for futsal they compete in basketball and volleyball in the Alberta Colleges Athletic League (ACAL) and are members of the Calgary Adult Hockey League (CAHL) in the sport of hockey.
Athletic director Ryan Willison gives us the low down on the school’s men’s and women’s squads.
“Last year we competed in the (ACAL) and not the ACAC and in our league play our men went 7-1, while our women went 7-0-1. Both of the teams ended up winning the league championship for the second year in a row.”
Of the move to the ACAC he said: “we are excited to be part of things this year. I think both teams will be young and inexperienced since this is our first year in the ACAC. They will both be very energetic and enthusiastic and eager to gain the valuable experience from this coming year."
Of the respective Lions team strengths Willison added: “On the men’s side, we are anchored by two defenseman, Tim Shaw and Riley Mahoney. They will be the leaders as the team is built around the solid defense. The team will need to score by committee as we don’t have one guy who is a real offensive force.
“On the women’s side, our keeper, Kaila Strohschein will be a big factor in our games. She is very dominant and vocal and leads our team from the net. At forward Alison Parry is in her fourth year with the team and is the offensive spark plug that will be relied upon for leadership as well as goals.
Olds coach Mark Oxer believes that the key to the Broncos success will be team play: "We don’t have any one player that is a superstar, but how the team works together as a unit totals more than the individual parts."
But the veteran coach was willing to mention some key players for both the men's and women's squads.
"For the men we have Mitch Swatzky a veteran player who brings leadership and experience to the team. Franz Unterberger another veteran with creativity, passion and intensity. Rookie Justin Schmidt is creative, fast, very positive and an excellent shooter.
For the women our leader is Keri Garland as she is very comfortable with the ball and Bea Dejong is also good with the ball and a good shooter."
This will be a homecoming of sorts for Oxer as he coached the Huskies women's soccer team for several years.
The remaining team competing this weekend in men’s and women’s competition are the Lakeland College Rustlers who's coach Kevin Wagner has high expectations: "Both teams have improved on the field since last year. Physically we are stronger, technically both squads are deeper and improved tactically we have worked hard on improving the decisions we have to make on field."
Key players include for the men: Omar Amador,-wide player,-creative attacking player; Sven Waelechi, target- finishing qualities; Braydon Bretzer, balanced attacker and defender. For the women: Kiara Stasiuk, attacking player- creative; Chelsey Kostesky,-back,-safe minded, calming influence; Tessa Lay, wide player,-good finisher and Amanda Meda,-target,-good finisher.
Rustlers won the men's title in 2011 with the Cougars and Rattlers finishing second and third respectively.
Games start Friday at 5 p.m. with the final Sunday at 3 p.m. All games are played at the Alberta Building Trades Field inside the Syncrude Sport & Wellness Centre.
Tournament #2 for Futsal is scheduled for Feb. 10-12 in Calgary at Mount Royal. ACAC championships March 10-12, 2012 hosted by the Rattlers.
