CIS CHAMPION SPARTANS PUT FIVE ON NATIONAL ROSTER

Women's Soccer (Announcement)
Thursday, April 02, 2009
FISU Team

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CIS CHAMPION SPARTANS PUT FIVE ON NATIONAL ROSTER

OTTAWA (CIS) - Canadian Interuniversity Sport announced Thursday the 20 players who will represent Canada in women's soccer at the 25th Summer Universiade set to take place July 1-12, 2009, in Belgrade, Serbia.

Official website 2009 Summer Universiade: www.universiade-belgrade2009.org
Team Canada website: www.universitysport.ca/belgrade

The reigning CIS champion Trinity Western Spartans lead the way with five representatives named to the World University Games roster, while UBC and Alberta both had three athletes selected.

A total of 13 players come from the Canada West conference, which has captured seven of the last eight Gladys Bean memorial trophies as CIS champion.

"Overall, as a coaching staff, we are very pleased with the group we have assembled. It has a very good balance of talent, experience and character," said TWU's Graham Roxburgh, who was announced as Team Canada head coach last August alongside assistant coach Liz Jepsen of Alberta and team leader Jorge Sanchez of Concordia. "There isn't a long time to prepare as a group, so we not only wanted to have a very talented team, but to assemble a group of people that we feel can become a team very quickly."

"We have great strength at every position, starting with our goalkeepers, all the way through the backs, midfield and frontrunners. In addition we have selected players that give us some different options in how we will defend and attack. We felt that we needed a good level of versatility in selecting the group."

UBC's Jaclyn Dunnett of Burnaby, B.C., and Trinity Western's Kristen Funk of Calgary will be Canada's keepers in Belgrade.

A veteran of four seasons at UBC, Dunnett was a second-team all-Canadian last fall and a first-team all-Canadian back in 2006. Funk led the Spartans to the CIS title as a freshman in 2008, posting three shutouts in three outings at the national championship.

The defensive unit is comprised of UBC teammates Jessica Briker of Vancouver and Chelsea Stang of Surrey, B.C., Alberta teammates Veronique Mayer of Edmonton and Keshia Wallin of St. Albert, Alta., as well as Toronto's Laura Arduini of Mississauga, Ont., Trinity Western's Jilian Dietrich of Calgary, and Queen's Brienna Shaw of Vancouver.

Stang has earned first-team all-Canadian nods two years running with the Thunderbirds. Dietrich and Shaw were both university freshmen in 2008.

Spartan teammates Rebecca Ferguson of Calgary and Melissa Mobilio of Coquitlam, B.C., head a group of midfielders completed by Memorial's Laura Breen of St. John's, Sherbrooke's Andréanne Gagné of Ste-Hyacinthe, Que., Manitoba's Desiree Scott of Winnipeg, Alberta's Jacqueline Smith of Sherwood Park, Alta., and Ottawa's Rachael Swetnam of Halifax.

Breen is a three-time CIS all-star in four seasons with the Sea-Hawks, including a first-team selection in 2008. Gagné was a second-team all-Canadian as a sophomore last fall.

The explosive foursome of forwards includes Sherbrooke's Josée Bélanger of Coaticook, Que., Victoria's Kendra Flock of Calgary, Montreal's Véronique Laverdière of Montreal, and Trinity Western's Nikki Wright of Surrey, B.C.

Bélanger, Wright and Laverdière finished fourth, sixth and seventh in CIS scoring last season, all tallying close to a goal per goal.

Bélanger is a three-time all-Canadian in three campaigns with the Vert & Or, including two straight first-team nods, while Wright is the reigning CIS rookie of the year.

"There are some players that have experienced Universiade and some world-class tournaments before, so that will be helpful," Roxburgh said. "Players like Chelsea Stang who has played with the Vancouver Whitecaps for the past couple of years. Jackie Dunnett, Des Scott and Andréanne Gagné have been apart of U20 World Cups. Des and Laura Breen were also at the last FISU Games, and a few others like Josée Bélanger have been part of CSA teams or camps in previous years."

Midfielders Breen and Scott are the only returning players from the Canadian squad that finished 10th at the 16-team Universiade tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2007. Scott is Team Canada's most experienced player on the international scene with 25 caps with Canada's youth team, including the 2006 Under-20 World Cup.

Bélanger is a veteran of 23 youth caps, including the 2004 U20 World Cup. Gagné has seven youth caps, including the 2008 U20 World Cup, while Dunnett has four.

Women's soccer made its Universiade debut as a demonstration sport at the 1993 Buffalo Games when the women's soccer tournament was held in Hamilton. The sport became an official Universiade discipline in 2001 in Beijing, China.

Canada has finished fifth on two occasions, in Buffalo when six teams competed in the tourney and then in Izmir, Turkey, in 2005, when 12 countries participated in the event.

TEAM CANADA ROSTER

Position - Name - University - Eligibility * - Hometown
Goalkeeper - Jaclyn Dunnett - UBC - 4 - Burnaby, B.C.
Goalkeeper - Kristen Funk - TWU - 1 - Calgary, Alta.
Defence - Laura Arduini - Toronto - 5 - Mississauga, Ont.
Defence - Jessica Briker - UBC - 3 - Vancouver, B.C.
Defence Jilian Dietrich TWU 1 Calgary, Alta.
Defence - Veronique Mayer - Alberta - 4 - Edmonton, Alta.
Defence - Brienna Shaw - Queen's - 1 - Vancouver, B.C.
Defence - Chelsea Stang - UBC - 4 - Surrey, B.C.
Defence - Keshia Wallin - Alberta - 3 - St. Albert, Alta.

Midfield - Laura Breen - Memorial - 4 - St. John's, Nfld.
Midfield - Rebecca Ferguson - TWU - 3 - Calgary, Alta.
Midfield - Andréanne Gagné - Sherbrooke - 2 - Ste-Hyacinthe, Que.
Midfield - Melissa Mobilio - TWU - 2 - Coquitlam, B.C.
Midfield - Desiree Scott - Manitoba - 4 - Winnipeg, Man.
Midfield - Jacqueline Smith - Alberta - 4 - Sherwood Park, Alta.
Midfield - Rachael Swetnam - Ottawa - 4 - Halifax, N.S.

Forward - Josée Bélanger - Sherbrooke - 3 - Coaticook, Que.
Forward - Kendra Flock - Victoria - 4 - Calgary, Alta.
Forward - Véronique Laverdière - Montreal - 3 - Montreal, Que.
Forward - Nikki Wright - TWU - 1 - Surrey, B.C.

* Indicates year of eligibility used in 2008 CIS season

STAFF

Head coach: Graham Roxburgh, Trinity Western
Assistant coach: Liz Jepsen, Alberta
Team leader: Jorge Sanchez, Concordia
Athletic therapist: Natalie Ghobrial, Trinity Western

Canada's results in women's soccer at Summer Universiade (5 previous appearances):

2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): 10th / 16 teams
2005 (Izmir, Turkey): 5th / 12
2003 (Daegu, South Korea): 10th / 11
2001 (Beijing, China): 11th / 12
1993 (Buffalo, USA): 5th / 6

About the Summer Universiade

The Summer Universiade is an international multi-sport event that takes place every two years, and is second only to the Olympic Games in the number of participating athletes and countries. The Universiade is open to competitors between the ages of 17 and 28 in the year of the Games who are full-time students at a post-secondary institution (university, college, CEGEP) or have graduated from a post-secondary institution in the year preceding the event.

About Canadian Interuniversity Sport

Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty-two universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. The CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, and 32 World University Championships. For further information, visit www.universitysport.ca.

-CIS-

For more information:

Michel Bélanger
Communications Manager
Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Tel: (613) 562-5670 ext. 25
Cell: (613) 447-6334
belanger@universitysport.ca
www.universitysport.ca

 

 

Last Updated: 2009-09-03
Author: Scott Stewart