Unbeaten WolfPack women amped for much-anticipated home opener

TRU (2-0-2) is itching to play on home turf after two road weekends and a bye week.

“[It] was tough, but the trade off is, hopefully, down the stretch we have a little bit more time at home when you’re a bit more tired,” WolfPack women’s soccer head coach Mark Pennington said.

The WolfPack will play host to the Victoria Vikes (0-1-3) on Friday (Sept. 25) and Fraser Valley Cascades (2-2-2) on Saturday (Sept. 26), with both tilts scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. at Hillside Stadium.

They are rematches, as TRU played to nil-nil draws with Victoria and Fraser Valley earlier this month prior to the bye week.

“I’ll be honest,” Pennington said. “When I first saw the schedule, I was like, ‘A bye week on Week 3 is not ideal.’ You probably want it a little bit later so you can get a bit of a rest. But with the gruelling travel schedule we had, I think we’d done eight out of 11 days on the bus prior to that, so it actually came at a good time because we were all feeling a little bit leggy.”

The well-rested WolfPack have been spurred by strong play from international recruits such as Floor Ursem, the Dutch goalkeeper who in her sophomore season needs one clean sheet to become the program’s all-time-shutouts leader.

Meanwhile, Albanian danger woman Esi Lufo, Kiwi rookie Hannah Saxon and Finnish winger Sara Kuusimäki have all of the WolfPack’s goals this season, with one apiece.

“It has been really good,” Kuusimäki said of her season to date, noting the team is defending well. “I feel like the first year I was more homesick. But I think now it’s better because I know everyone on the team, so that helps.”

TRU and Fraser Valley are tied for third in Pacific Division standings, with Trinity Western (3-1-2) of Langley in second place and UBC of Vancouver (6-0) at the top of the table.

by Marty Hastings

Unbeaten WolfPack women amped for much-anticipated home opener

Our Community