A pair of local soccer teams will kickoff their 2005 season at home this weekend as both the Sudbury Canadians of the United Soccer League (USL) Women's Division and the Panhellenic Under 21 Women see action on local fields. The Canadians head into their second season of play with just a single win under their belt but remain hopeful that the experience gained last summer pays dividends this time around.
The Canadians play host to the Vermont Lady Voltage Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. at Laurentian University, opening the season with a roster that may very well be even younger than one year ago. The good news is that six players who formed part of the Sudbury Canadians U-17 squad that have advanced under the coaching of Kevin Roach over the past several years will make the jump to the Women's league in 2005.
The Canadians U-17 team were Ontario Cup silver medallist in 2004 and have a history of matching up well against some of the best Ontario has to offer. Still, many of the visiting USL teams will boast rosters made up primarily of players aged 22-30, leaving Sudbury among the youngest teams in the league.
The Canadians should benefit from the experience garnered over the past twelve months by the goaltending tandem of Katie McNamara and Julia Boschetto. The local pair endured a baptism by fire in many a USL encounter last summer, facing upwards of thirty shots a game against top level USL teams. However, McNamara and Boschetto translated a busy summer of netminding into an outstanding season at Laurentian University last fall, helping the Lady Vees to seven straight shutouts to begin the 2004 campaign.
The ladies also backstopped Laurentian's furthest venture into post-season play in their short women's soccer history. Likely the most pressing area of concern last year for the Canadians was the defensive weakness through the back four as well as the midfield. Top end opponents capitalized quickly and often as the Canadian defenders struggled against quicker and more-skilled attackers in trying to hold the fort.
Only Melynda Roach returns from the regular defensive unit that took to the field one year ago, but she gains familiar company in the presence of Cara Smith, coming off an outstanding year at Laurentian that saw her named as a first-team OUA all-star in November. Coaches Frank Malvaso, Jeff Falcioni and Kevin Roach will also look to a tandem that gained some first hand experience last year in Laurentian recruits Erica Duczeminski and Samantha Falcioni. Renee Borkovich, a teammate on the U-17 squad who appears likely headed to the University of Ottawa in the fall, should also see time of the defensive unit.
The midfield should benefit from the return of Karla Winters, coming off her second season at Brock University in St Catherines as well as Laurentian's Lauren Duhaime. Former University of Arkansas-Little Rock graduate Jennifer Charron, a Sault Ste Marie native, will also be looked to stabilize the midfield area with some of the young ladies who have experience at striker expected to also fill in as attacking midfielders.
The Canadians should feature the potential for greater offensive output this summer as the club welcomes back both Megan Schutt and Lauren Podolski from St Joseph's University and Indiana State University respectively. Rookies Thalia Playford, who will be leaving for the University of Western Michigan in the fall, and yet another Laurentian recruit, Jenna Roach, can also provide some speed and quickness up front.
Youngsters Dana Collins, Stephanie Grenier and Niaomi Fillier will also get an opportunity to get their feet wet against some of the world's top female soccer stars this summer as the Canadians compete in a fourteen game schedule, eleven of which are against divisional rivals Vermont, Ottawa Fury, Toronto Lady Lynx and Rochester Ravens. Sudburians will also get their first look at the Western Mass Lady Pioneers and the New Hampshire Lady Phantoms this summer as the American teams travel to Sudbury in June and July respectively.
After kicking off regular season play this weekend, the Canadians enjoy a two-week break in the schedule before greeting both Toronto and Ottawa on the last weekend of May. Still practicing with the squad is defender Sally Parent, who played with the Canadians in their inaugural season before suffering a torn ACL in an exhibition contest in Montreal with the Laurentian Lady Vees. With total reconstructive surgery on her knee targetted for the fall of 2005, Parent suggests that cautious optimism is the key at the moment.
"I could play right now but there is a better chance of re-injuring the knee" notes Parent, adding that any subsequent injury may rule out future soccer involvement altogether. "With a recovery time of at least six months after surgery, I'm looking to the summer of 2006 as a realistic return date" states the 3rd year Health Promotion student at Laurentian.
Meanwhile, with the local competitive women's league on the verge of folding, the Panhellenic U-21 ladies made the move to the Ontario Womemn's Soccer League (OWSL) this summer. The team will compete in the six-team South Regional U-21 division which includes Brams United, Erin Mills, Guelph Royals, London United and Oakville Rebels. Panhellenic opens with a pair of home games this weekend against Erin Mills, playing Saturday at 3:00 p.m. and Sunday at 11:00 a.m., with both games slated for the Macdonald-Cartier field.
The team is comprised of a mix of primarily local high-school players as well as a few post-secondary athletes and a quartet from North Bay. The team's roster is as follows: Erica Bota, Gillian Dumencu, Joanna Fabris, Stacey Jerome, Stacey Lawlor, Desiree Major, Stephanie Michel, Lauren Mirabelli, Erin Persi, Shannon Persi, Laura Simms, Marcia Topolniski, Liane Villano, Kirsten Donald, Hiliary Jacko, Bailey Rudow and Kristen Sarlo. Joe Persi will be coaching the squad which is expected to be in tough against teams who have previously gone toe to toe with the Sudbury Canadians teams in OYSL action.
