‘Standing on the shoulders of giants’: TRU WolfPack soccer women reflect on first conference podium finish

He explained it was signed by some of the players who toiled for him during his rookie year. He told them they may not reach the podium during their tenure with the ‘Pack, but the hard yards they put in are groundwork for the future.

“There are some names on there, like Cassie Morris, Natalie Verdiel, Marisa Mendonca, Ainsley’s [Grether] on there… they helped move the program forward,” Pennington said. “I wanted them to know that whatever we go on to do and if we ever go on to win anything, we have a banner and I want it to be signed and I said, ‘This banner will come out.'”

TRU secured its first U Sports National Championship berth and Canada West medal on Thursday, when it prevailed in penalty kicks over the Victoria Vikes in conference semifinal action.

“We were playing with house money today,” Pennington said on Friday.

Very few frowns were on the faces of the WolfPack when they were presented with silver medals.

“We don’t really care about losing at this moment,” said Esi Lufo, whose free-kick beezer was the Pack’s lone goal on Friday. “We’re just focused on nationals and our other games. We completed our objective and it’s great.”

Some foundation had been laid while the expansion program found its U Sports footing prior to Pennington’s arrival, but much work was to be done.

When Pennington was hired, TRU had a record of 13-47-7 – including a record of 3-9-2 the year prior to his arrival – and had only once qualified for the post-season, in 2015, when it was thumped 6-1 by UBC in Round 1.

“I don’t think there’s anyone in the country who works as hard as Mark, in particular with his recruiting,” said WolfPack athletics director Curtis Atkinson, who spoke with CFJC on Friday at Thunderbird Stadium. “I’m really proud of him and really proud of what he’s done with the program.”

The WolfPack won their first playoff game, hosted their first post-season match and reached the Canada West Final Four for the first time in 2022.

This year, with a well-rounded team that includes four international standouts and plenty of key Canadian and Kamloopsian contributors, the program took another step.

“We’re getting good at this. I was counting and we’ve [WolfPack athletics programs] been in five national championships in the last 10 years,” Matt Milovick, TRU vice-president of administration and finance, told CFJC on Friday. “This speaks to the quality of our players, our coaches, the administration. We do a good job and we’re serious about it. This is awesome.”

The WolfPack posted a record of eight wins, two losses and four ties this season, good for their best regular season finish in program history, placing second in the Pacific Division behind the undefeated Thunderbirds.

They hosted a Canada West quarter-final tilt for the first time, recovering from an early deficit to knock off Saskatchewan 3-1 and secure passage to their second Final Four. In 2022, TRU lost the semifinal and bronze-medal games to fall short of a conference medal and national championship berth.

UBC posted a record of 13-0-1 in the 2026 regular season, its only draw coming against the WolfPack, who are the only team to register a goal in Canada West play against the T-Birds this season.

The Vancouver powerhouse has surrendered only three goals this season, one in each of its three games against TRU.

“Three times in a row we’ve scored on UBC,” Pennington said. “Nobody else has done that this year, so we’ll take that as a win.”

TRU is ranked seventh for the 2026 U Sports Women’s Soccer Championship and scheduled to open its tournament against No. 2 Montreal on Thursday [Nov. 12] in Vancouver.

(Image Credit: U Sports/Contributed)

CFJC will have a tournament preview on Tuesday (Nov. 10).

by Marty Hastings

‘Standing on the shoulders of giants’: TRU WolfPack soccer women reflect on first conference podium finish

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