ACAC Womens Soccer Championship Preview
by ACAC Sports Writer Curtis J. Phillips
Ooks, Rattlers, Thunder and Trojans uniforms will be out in full force this weekend as the four respective Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference schools carrying those logos have qualified for both men's and women's provincial championships to be hosted in Medicine Hat and Edmonton respectively.
Following are thumbnail sketches and quotes from head coaches of the 2016 ACAC Women's Soccer Championships presented by Elite Sportswear and Awards being held in Edmonton and hosted Concordia University of Edmonton at Clareview Recreation Centre Soccer.
Friday, October 28, 2016
Game 1 12:00 PM
Olds College vs. GPRC - Watch on ACACTV.ca
Olds Broncos
Head Coach: Macky Singh
2016 Record: 4 wins 4 losses 1 tie 19 goals for 16 goals against
Top Scorers: Jamie Flett 9 Rachel Brodie 4
"We have played with only 13 players all year, so touch wood that we stay healthy. We are confident...quietly confident...and are taking one game at a time. This is a whole new experience for us as it is the first time for our school (women's soccer program entered ACAC in 2012-2013). We are in uncharted territory or waters and we are excited to be there."
Grande Prairie Regional College Wolves
Head Coach: Chris Morgan
2016 Record: 8 wins 2 losses 38 goals for 15 goals against
Top Scorers: Chelsea Fitzgerald 9 Janai Martens 7 Shelby Henley 6 Kennedy Hall 6
"It's good that we have goals coming from all over the place and the rookies have come in strong. We have a few key injuries from playing three games over the weekend and some of the younger players are struggling, so it may be difficult.
"Our strengths are our forward game and we have a solid back four...we are solid all the way through."
Game 2 2:00 PM
Concordia University of Edmonton vs. SAIT - Watch on ACACTV.ca
Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder
Head Coach: Franco Imbrogno
2016 Record: 6 wins 3 losses 1 tie 27 goals for 16 goals against
ACAC Championships 2
Top Scorers: Jaida Stasiuk 11
"Ther are moments where we play very efficent footrball and moments wherw we are not at the top of our game. We will see what happens when play SAIT.
"Our strength is that when we are on, our work rate is positive and we keep the ball busy as a ball position team."
SAIT Trojans
Head Coach: John Talerico
2016 Record: 7 wins 3 losses 24 goals for 12 goals against
ACAC Championships 1
Top Scorers: Cassandra Bush 10 Emily Fedoriak 9 Mataya Blakney 8
"(Cassandra Bush, Emily Fedoriak, and Mataya Blakney) all three of them give us balanced scoring which is fantastic.
"We have aa few bumps and bruises right now which is not different than any other team that has the rigors of playing 10 games in a short time period.
"Coming off of a year like last year where we were winless (5 losses 5 ties) is huge. As a group we did a lot of work during the off season to get some players in and promote more ladies to help the team. We also had a couple of players from past years with eligibility left ciome back and give us boost.
"We achieved our goals game-by-game."
Saturday, October 29, 2016
Game 3 12:00 PM
Winner game 1 vs. Medicine Hat College - Watch on ACACTV.ca
Medicine Hat Rattlers
Head Coach: Jim Loughlin
2016 Record: 8 wins 2 losses 25 goals for 7 goals against
ACAC Championships 1
Top Scorers: Kaity Letwiniuk 14
"Kaity (Letwiniuk) has been a key player for us as she has been the last few seasons. She has come through and scored some big goals for us.
"With the bye we will have fresher legs going into the semi-final."
"I'll be traveling with the women's team this year (Loughlin also coaches Medicine Hat's men's soccer team which qualified for 2016 ACAC men's soccer provincials) and the men's team will have a good experienced coaching staff with them. We've had a fair amount of instances where both of our teams have qualified, so we do it on rotation where one year I will go with the men and the next with the women."
Game 4 2:00 PM
Winner game 2 vs. NAIT - Watch on ACACTV.ca
NAIT Ooks
Head Coach: Carole Holt
2016 Record: 9 wins 1 tie 41 goals for 5 goals against
ACAC Championships 7
Top Scorers: Kassy Jajczay 16 Marissa Webb 7 Kaily Mohn 7
"(Kassy Jajczay) has played a significant role this year. We have always been lucky to have natural scorers the last few years. (Marissa Webb and Kaily Mohn) have also been playing well for us this season. We have a handful of scorers which is good to have because then we can spread it out.
"Not playing against (ACAC South Division in regular season) teams means we don't know much about them but the North and South divisions had very meaningful games this past weekend and it is competitive across the province."