VIDEO: WOMEN'S SOCCER 2010 SEASON PREVIEW

WOMEN’S SOCCER (ANNOUNCEMENT)
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2010
SEASON PREVIEW

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VIDEO: WOMEN'S SOCCER 2010 SEASON PREVIEW

LANGLEY, British Columbia - With the Trinity Western women's soccer team kicking off their Canada West season Saturday afternoon in Lethbridge and then travelling to Calgary for a game Sunday, SpartansTV previews the season and, with comments from coach Graham Roxburgh, breaks down all the positions and what to expect this year.

Check out more videos at the SpartansTV YouTube site including the full  interview with Graham Roxburgh.

Key additions: midfielder Jennifer Castillo (North Delta, B.C./Whitecaps Reserves), midfielder Jenna Di Nunzio (Surrey, B.C./Whitecaps Reserves), Jessica King (Liverpool, Eng/Liverpool FC).
Key departures: none, team returns entire starting unit.
CIS ranking: 1st
CW ranking: 1st

2009-10 CW Tournament placing: 1st
2009-10 CIS Tournament Placing: 1st
2009-10 Conference Record: 11-2-1
CW (women's) titles: 3 (2009, 2006, 2004)
CIS (women's) titles: 3 (2009, 2008, 2004)

Where do the Spartans go from here? They’ve won back-to-back national titles, are reigning Canada West gold medalists, hold the Canada West league title and have had back-to-back CIS rookies of the year. Anything but another national championship would seem to be an off year. But a third straight CIS title would also be something that no other CIS women’s soccer team has ever accomplished, which means it is a very difficult task and to do so would put the Spartans in rarified air.

"We can’t be successful without hard work," said Spartans coach Graham Roxburgh. "There’s good teams in Canada West so we’re going to need to be playing at our top level to compete with some of our big rivals. There’s no easy game. Everyone has got better so we’re going to have to continue to get better.

"And I think we’ll fight against complacency by making everything competitive in training. There’s no safe position in some ways within our squad. We’ve got good depth and players who can step in if somebody is injured or not playing well. I think the competitiveness in training will help us overcome that. We’ve had some good experiences but those experiences don’t come without a lot of work and that’s what we’ll focus on.

Trinity Western head coach Graham Roxburgh returns his entire starting lineup from last year’s championship squad and has had another strong recruiting class to bolster the No. 1 ranked team in the CIS as they head into the Canada West season.

The players returning to lead the Spartans this year include former FISU members Melissa Mobilio, Julian Dietrich and Rebecca Ferguson, 2008 Canada West Player of the Year, FISU member, Vancouver Whitecap and 2008 CIS Rookie of the Year forward Nikki Wright, FISU member and Vancouver Whitecap keeper Kristen Funk, Vancouver Whitecap midfielder Natalie Boyd, 2008 CIS tournament MVP forward Daniela Gerig, 2009 CIS tournament MVP midfielder Tessa Meyer and 2009 CIS Rookie of the Year forward Alicia Tesan.

Roxburgh, the 2009 Canada West Coach of the Year, has also added a number of quality recruits to his line-up. Leading the way are midfielder Jennifer Castillo (North Delta, B.C./Whitecaps Reserves), midfielder Jenna Di Nunzio (Surrey, B.C./Whitecaps Reserves) and Jessica King (Liverpool, Eng./Liverpool FC).

But no matter how strong TWU looks on paper Roxburgh and the Spartans know that in Canada West, where a goal here or there can be the difference between making the post season or not, being the defending champs means nothing once the whistle blows to start the new season.

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-one universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.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 14 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: 2010-09-10
Author: Mark Janzen