After establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with
in the former ACAC league, the Mount Royal Women’s Cougar Soccer Team sought
out this past weekend to prove themselves in this year’s first ever CIS league
game. This weekend would prove to be tough as the Cougars were up against some
of the top contenders in the league, playing BC’s University of Fraser Valley
and the University of Victoria.
The Cougars departed with much enthusiasm on Friday,
September 7th as they made the long trip out to Abbotsford to
compete in their first game that very day at 5pm. After safely arriving by
plane into Abbotsford, the Cougars continued to make their way by bus to
Chilliwack, BC where they would encounter their first competitor; UFV. Despite
traveling the entire day, the Cougars arrived ready to focus and play.
Just prior to the game the Cougars received an encouraging
and strategic pep talk from coach Tino Fusco, emphasizing some key formation
setups and defensive tactics to use against the very tall and towering UFV
squad, which they would use to their advantage during the match. After a
continued battle throughout the first 35 minutes of the game, the Cougars were
forced to deal with their first injury of the season as starting center back
Kara Noel was taken out of the game due to a knee injury. Regardless of the
setback, the Cougars affirmed to be a determined and tenacious team after a
positive outcome in the first half which held both teams at 0-0. Coach Fusco
continued to stress the need to win aerial balls and continue to pressure the
larger than most UFV squad in order to find more success.
Regardless of the Cougars’ efforts to maintain their
defensive half, the UFV squad found three separate occasions to use their size
to their advantage and scored against MRU on multiple aerial corner kick
opportunities that coach Fusco warned about. The match concluded with a score
of 3-0 for UFV. Although the Cougars didn’t find success in points during this
match, small successes were made throughout the game and the Cougars kept their
heads high, proud of their initial start into the CIS.
With still another tough match yet to come, and another long
day of traveling to the island of Victoria ahead, the Cougars were due for a
considerable amount of recovery. The final match of the weekend came quickly as
the Cougars made it to the University of Victoria’s impressive stadium and
prepared to compete once again. Knowing the Cougars would be up against a
strong and experienced team, coach Fusco instructed the Cougars to each set
individual goals and expectations for themselves to correct previous mistakes
and struggles in order to reach success in the current match.
The Cougars determination was evident when at half time the
score remained 0-0. The Cougars were accomplishing many of the goals they had
set out to achieve at the beginning of the match and in turn received a
positive outcome against the dominant UofVic squad. Fusco made little change to
the Cougars starting lineup he originally set forth, but the UofVic squad
looked significantly different coming into the second half with 6 major
substitutions made by their head coach. With some obvious experienced UofVic
players entering into the second half of the match the game changed
significantly. Within the first 15 minutes the Cougars were down 3-0. The game
continued and the Cougars did not let up on as they continued to make the
UofVic team work for their victory. At the end of the 90th minute the score and
had racked up to 5-0 in favor of the University of Victoria, but with 3 of
those goals due to human error by the Cougars, coach Fusco ensured his team to
walk away with a sense of contentment in their efforts.
The Cougars left BC with much to consider for their training
sessions to come during the next week to further prepare and develop for the
rest of the season’s matches yet to come.
*Photos compliments of Reaghan Zilkie; "like the president".
