2017 Alumni Fall Update

HELLO FRIENDS OF WOMEN'S SOCCER 

& ALUMNI

We are getting close to the kickoff of our 2017 season.  We wanted to provide some updates to you all with what is happening with the soccer program!  

We open up the 2017 season against our southern rivals, the University of Lethbridge.  Kickoff is scheduled for 11:00am Saturday, September 9th @ MRU Stadium Field.  

I would like to formally invite all Mt. Royal Alumni (MRC, MRU) to come and celebrate our 6th year of competition in U Sports.  

I would like to have any alumni in attendance come and join the current squad in the new team room post-match for a friendly exchange.  We kindly ask that any and all alumni update their contact her to ensure you are receiving the latest news from the program.  
Update your alumni contact 

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The remaining home schedule can be found on the MRU Cougars Website!  And if you didn't hear....we have a new LOGO!   Along with the new logo, the school has aligned with Under Amour as our new gear supplier.  Come support by stopping by a home match (Entry is still FREE!) and see our new match day kits. The days of the 3 stripes are in the past!

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Our 2017 roster can be found here. 

We've added some great recruits this season to continue to push this program forward.  In the past 5 years the program has joined the University league we have found ways to lead in the classroom and improve each year.   And for those of you in our ACAC days, we'll we can't forget the perfect 10-0 season!  

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For the second time in program history the team went down to the 🇺🇸 to play some preseason matches.  This past month we just came back from playing University of Idaho and Gonzaga - both NCAA Division 1 programs.  

To conclude the preseason - we had the program's past three captains come back and speak to the current squad about their experiences; what they learned by being in the program and what advice they had for the new players starting the program.  

Thank you Janelle Carbert, Kristin Deeks, & Glenna Burrows for your generous time!  

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We'd like to welcome and thank our coaching staff for their time and efforts to continue to push this program forward.  As of this summer, the program now has a full-time coach in Tino Fusco, who is entering his 9th year as leader of the program.   
Shown below:  M. Hatalova (AC), Colin MacKay (AC) , newly added Cedric Bovon (AC) 

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Continue to follow us on twitter (@mru_wsoccer) as we try and offer some Thursday Throwbacks #TBTMRU to our program history.  

Or if you are around campus....stop in to the coaches office....he'd like to catch up! 

#GoCougars

#WeAreTheCougars

Playoffs - "A Day in the Life of a Cougar"

The Road to playoffs....(credit to Maria Tait)

Cougars Senior Night 2015 (video provided by Maria Tait )

Cougars Player of the Week!

Player of the week: Amanda Schafer!

Cougars Preseason Road Trip

Cougars add to the Coaching Staff for 2015

Jacquie D. Hertlein 

Jacquie is a Mount Royal Alumni from 1995-1996 where she captained the team to two ACAC Provincial Championships and CCAA Championships winning Bronze in 1996.  Jacquie was also selected as a tournament All-Star and was the top goal scorer during her career at Mount Royal.  Prior to Mount Royal Jacquie attended Lynn University in Boca Raton Florida from 1993-1994 where the team won the Sunshine Conference and made an appearance at the NAIA National Soccer Championship losing in the final in double overtime to Berry College. Locally, Jacquie played in the Alberta Soccer Major League for 9 years with the Jaguars wining the scoring title twice and has played for several Provincial Select teams.

Jacquie is the assistant coach for the Foothills USL Pro-Am W League team who are currently in their exhibition season. Jacquie has been involved coaching several local Premier women's sides for the past 10 years and currently holds a Provincial C license.   

On the personal side, Jacquie has been with the Calgary Police Service since 1999 and is married to a Calgary Firefighter where they enjoy their time with their 7 year old son Kyson.

"Jacquie brings a wealth of playing experience and passion to the program.  We are excited to bring someone of her abilities and drive to our program to continue on our path of success.  It's exciting to have a former alumna giving back and we are excited to get started." --Coach, Fusco   

Jacquie will join the current staff of Colin MacKay (AC, 2nd yr) and Tino Fusco (HC, 7th yr)

As we enter 2015 - we also welcome the new team captain.

GLENNA BURROWS will become the 2nd team captain in Cougars CIS history and lead the Women's Soccer program into the 2015 season.    

With the graduation of our first ever CIS team captain, Kristin Deeks...the natural progression was to look into the squad and see who could take over and continue the direction this program is moving. 

What shoes to fill...but we believe we got this right and are excited to see what this team is capable under the leadership of our new captain.  

For me as head coach, the team captain of this program had to be someone the other players respected.  I wasn't looking looking for the loudest or the most talented/popular - I was looking for a person who has been at Mount Royal University from the beginning - someone who choose the school she wanted to attend because of the academics and sport she enjoys.  I wanted a player who has been through our difficult times, felt our growing pains and has earned her opportunities through hard work and dedication to the program.  

We have encouraged all the players in our program, whether 1st or 5th years, to showcase their leadership abilities inside the game and in the community.  Glenna's main responsibility will be working with the coaching staff to ensure staff and players are moving in one direction together.  

Congratulations Glenna; you will be part of program history and we look forward to seeing how you can bring along your other 25 teammates to achieve greatness in 2015.  

Your leadership style will be unique however we feel it will be very powerful. 

"Raise your words, not your voice.  It is the rain that grows flowers, not thunder." - Rumi

Glenna Burrows - On what being a Cougar means to her:

Being a Cougar for the last three years has been an incredible experience.  To me, being a Cougar gives me the biggest sense of pride and community, as I am able to represent not only my hometown, but also a fantastic school.  Entering into the CIS in my first year was a struggle, but seeing the team and the program grow to where it is now is amazing. I couldn’t be more grateful to be apart of the growth of the women’s soccer program as it has come so far, exceeding my expectation every year. Since entering the CIS we have fought our way up the charts, no longer being seen as the newbies but instead as competition. My expectations for this coming season are high, and I think that our commitment and drive will help us land a spot in the playoffs. Being named captain for the 2015 season is the biggest honor and achievement in my soccer career thus far.  I couldn’t ask for better teammates and coach to share this experience with.  I am very excited and ready to take on the role of being captain! 

2015 Attacking Player of the Year goes to....

We would like to congratulate Emily Sands as the Attacking Player of the Year for 2015.

Emily came into the program in her first year and made an immediate impact.  She is a two-footed player who has the ability to find the goal when getting into good positions.  We hope more is to come in the remaining years with the Cougars! Her name will forever be etched in Cougar Women's Soccer History.

To our longest serving program team captain...we say THANK YOU.

5 Years in a Nutshell

                  I don’t know how to fully describe my experience with the Mount Royal Women’s Soccer team because it has provided me with so many memories, skills, and relationships, this small posting won’t do it justice….

My experience with the team goes beyond soccer. Being a part of the program has been fundamental to creating the person I am today. Through 5 years, I have come out the other end being a strong and educated woman. I wouldn’t change my experience for anything.

                  From my first time playing with the MRU team- 2010 summer, rooftop SAIT field vs. very fast boys team, to my last game 2014, freezing Winnipeg vs the Wesmen I wouldn’t take back one experience. Within this time I watched my coach go “Pitbull” in Fort McMurray, I had a net fall on top of me, I watched teammates battle with their ankles practically falling off their legs, and I had the weirdest and most wonderful bus trip conversations; I got to experience championship games, play on the most beautiful pitches, play in humbling matches and overcome huge feats as a team. The challenges from injuries, competition and weather, as well as the victories, successes and hard work will hold such a special place in my mind and heart. I have never laughed harder or cared more about a group of people.

This program and the people within it have lifted me up and allowed me to be part of something great. I am going to miss battling 7 days a week with such special people. Although the on field aspect of my time with the Cougars is done I hope I never lose touch with the Women’s Soccer family.

                  So to my coaches, teammates, and all involved with the Cougars Women’s Soccer team thank-you from the bottom of my heart, you are a piece of who I am. And specifically to the ladies, I wish you great success and that you get the same I got out of this program as I did.

                  Signing off for the last time……

Deeks

MRU SOCCER PROMO (year 3 CIS)

Got our hands on this beauty from the MRU TV Broadcasting class...

Cougars Women's Soccer to Represent at MRU Cougar Night 2015

Congratulations to Women's Soccer Alumni, Kelsey Marklund who has been selected as one of the 2015 COUGAR NIGHT emcee's!   Looking forward to it!  

A New Year

It is that time again, the Christmas break is over and the players are finding there way back to the school campus to locate their second semester classes.

The program is entering it's off-season phase of the annual training plan.  During this phase, the players will conduct some strength and conditioning training led by the program's strength and conditioning coach, Lindsey Materi.

The players will be in the gym throughout the winter weeks looking to enhance deficiencies in their overall physical makeup.  A testing period will conclude this phase and transition into the summer club league play.

As the players are improving their physical game, the coaching staff are busy watching matches and recruiting players to improve the squad and replace the players who have graduated from the program.

It has taken some time but the program is definately moving in a positive direction.  We have an annual training plan that takes the players through the proper rest periods, strength periods, and competition phases.  We have added various science driven elements to our program to track the player's performances and will be profiling the players in years to come.

Among all of this, the team completed over 500 volunteer hours in the first term and obtained a program high of 3.56 team overall GPA.

Some exciting times for Mount Royal University Women's Soccer in the months ahead.

2014 Season Recap

As the post-season player meetings are underway and the squad is frantically completing the last few assignments from their classes heading into the December finals; it's time to reflect on the 2014 season.

The third season for the women's soccer program in Canada West brought a new league schedule format and new challenges.

The team started the preseason bringing in two well-known Canadian coaches; Neil Turnbull and and Neil Sedgwick for a 4 day mini-camp to work with the players.  Some very good times.  Following this camp, the squad hosted it's annual preseason weekend tournament bringing in teams from BC and surrounding area.  Wrapping up the preseason, the squad made history for the program heading down to the USA to play some NAIA and NCAA Division 2 schools.  All round, good experience for all.

The squad opened league play with a 4 point weekend at home; beating the University of Lethbridge and following that performance with a 0-0 draw to the home school rival UofC.

It's the middle of the season where the squad showed it's inconsistency, dropping points on various weekends.  The team did show it's pride and allowed the seniors and 5th year graduates to play their last weekend matches - making history for a second time this year - earning a 6 point weekend on the road in Winnipeg with two wins.   Start strong - finish strong!  We learned some valuable lessons about consistency and quality that we need to address in the coming year.

Overall, we finished with more points this season than in the last two years since joining the University league.  The program is making strides and continues to find success.

A big thank you is in order to our supporters of the program as well as the following staff:

K. Marklund - social media
J. Brading - Team Manager
V. Peters - Assistant Coach
C. MacKay - Assistant Coach
A. Bonutti - Athletic Therapist
L. Materi - Strength and Conditioning Coach

The program is currently speaking with potential prospects and have currently signed some new players which will be made public in the coming months.

Donella Lockhart: Athlete of the Month

Fiery 5'3 inch soccer player led MRU Cougars' transition into university CIS play with second most points

Check out 5th year Cougar Donella Lockhart, The Calgary Journal Athlete of the Month! A great interview and summation of Lockhart's 5 years as a Cougar.

"Donella comes with a little bit of a bite and I like that about her. She's adapted to whatever challenges have come her way. She carries a bit of an edge to her." - Coach Fusco

Read the full interview here!

MRU 2014 Annual Cross Bar Challenge

On a side note:  the administrators of this blog would like to take this opportunity to apologize for the lost 2013 Crossbar Challenge Video.  Until it is found, we cannot verify any winners of that event at this time. 

On a rare day off due to team photos, mid-season, the squad took to the training field, sporting it's navy long sleeve kit.

With no official warmup or trial kicks rather opting for a few tosses of the american pig skin around the pitch, we were all left to our own technical abilities.  (Arms out for balance, plant foot, foot firm a strong wind to the left for many {okay, there was no wind on this day; and a little banter)

Miss Deeks takes the event to a whole new level with her final entrance as she has officially graduated from the event....or is there some coaching ability in her yet....

Unfortunately, due to a jump in the sequence by Mrs. Peters - she has been disqualified from the event by the judges after reviewing the video replay thus no prizes will be distributed this season and the title of crossbar master will continue into the 2015 season.

It was unfortunate for the rookie assistant coach this season but she should pay attention to the rules.   Better luck next year.

COUGARS FACE ADVERSITY IN WEEKEND NUMBER TWO

#Adversity or #Anniversary: From celebrating 20 years of Cougar women’s soccer, to battling the elements and practicing indoors in a small gym, these two words are the best ways to describe the Cougar’s season so far.

Coming off a win and a tie in a sunny and +25 opening weekend at home, the following week found Calgary buried under a foot of snow... leaving Cougar coaching staff scrambling to find indoor practice space. With less than ideal preparation the team embarked on the long bus ride to Saskatoon, hoping that determination and heart would be enough to achieve some success.

On Saturday the University of Saskatchewan Huskies proved to be a very skilled team, beating the Cougars 4-0. Hoping the kinks in their play had been left behind in Saskatoon, the girls shook it off, heads held high going into Sunday’s match against the University of Regina Cougars.

With the game plan in hand, the battle of the Cougars began. MRU started the game with good pressure up top and some chances on goal. It was still early in the game when a poorly cleared corner kick allowed the Regina team to get up on the board 1-0. Unfortunately it was downhill from there. The lone goal for the Cougars was scored by Kelsey Kinzner later in the second half, but the damage was done, resulting in a 6-1 loss for MRU.

Film will be analyzed and the team will reflect on their play, with the goal of addressing what exactly went wrong, in hopes of answering the questions: What will the teams identity be? How are they going to respond?

The third weekend of the season will have the Cougars up against the University of Alberta Golden Bears in Edmonton this coming weekend for their first duplicate opponent matches after the restructuring of CIS West.

Perhaps the most annoying challenge will be sharing a bus with the MRU men’s soccer team as they too will be traveling to Edmonton (hopefully Taylor Lamb remembers the Febreze).

Blog by fifth year Donella Lockhart.