SPARTANS BEGIN DEFENCE OF CHAMPIONSHIP ON THE ROAD

New Recruit - Jenn Castillo

WOMEN’S SOCCER (ANNOUNCEMENT)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 2010
SCHEDULE RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPARTANS BEGIN DEFENCE OF CHAMPIONSHIP ON THE ROAD

LANGLEY, British Columbia - For the second time in as many years, the Spartans women’s soccer team kicks off the season as defending national champions. And, just like last year, they will do so by starting on the road.

While last year’s season began with five of their first six away from home, this year’s schedule is much friendlier as they will only have to play in Lethbridge (September 11) and in Calgary (September 12) before returning home to host Regina on September 17.

After the Spartans opening pair of road efforts, TWU will play seven of their next nine games at home before closing out the season with three games on opposition turf.

“Canada West is such a competitive conference that with our schedule this season it will prove to be a difficult challenge for us as we both open and close on the road,” said Spartans coach Graham Roxburgh. “Going on the road early is going to be tough because we face two young and talented teams on their turf right off the bat and then, to finish the season, we go to Alberta and Saskatchewan, which are tough places to play.

“The stretch that will prove interesting for our BC teams is when we face our local rivals 6 times in basically 3 weeks.”

The Spartans headliner matchups include a visit to Victoria on October 2 followed by the Vikes return visit on October 9 and back-to-back games against UBC (October 16 and 23) albeit playing them a week apart.

With a bevy of key players returning from last year, the squad Spartans fans see on September 17 should largely resemble the team that walked off the pitch last year with the national championship banner.

Expect players like Nikki Wright, Natalie Boyd and goalie Kristen Funk to once again lead the way for the Spartans while fans will also get a chance to see first-year players Jennifer Castillo, Jenna Di Nunzio, Jessica King, Sarah Hannigan, Melissa Horahan and Becky Schile.

CANADA WEST HOME SCHEDULE

9/17 REGINA 5PM
9/18 MANITOBA 5PM
9/24 SASKATCHEWAN 5PM
9/25 ALBERTA 5PM
10/08 FRASER VALLEY 5PM
10/09 VICTORIA 5PM
10/16 BRITISH COLUMBIA 5PM

About TWU:

Trinity Western University, located in Langley, B.C., is a not-for-profit Christian liberal arts university enrolling over 4,000 students this year. With a broad based, liberal arts and sciences curriculum, the University offers undergraduate degrees in 41 major areas of study ranging from business, education and computer science to biology and nursing, and 17 other graduate degrees including counselling psychology, theology and administrative leadership. For more information, visit TWU's Official Athletics site at gospartans.ca.

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.

About CWUAA:

"Canada West is consistently the most decorated of the four conferences in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), winning at least 10 CIS national titles every year since 1997-98. Comprised of 13 schools, from Manitoba to B.C., the CWUAA produces numerous major award winners and Academic All-Canadian student-athletes each year, with many going on to athletic success around the globe in events such as the Olympics or Universiade Games."

-TW-

Last Updated: 2010-06-23
Author: Mark Janzen