WolfPack aim to fill roster holes, establish culture after graduating key players

The WolfPack will begin regular season Canada West play this weekend in Prince George, scheduled to play the UNBC Timberwolves on Friday and Sunday.

The graduating class of 2024 included captain Ainsley Grether, the program’s all-time leader in goals, and Raiya Rumo, a two-time first-team Canada West all-star, along with starting goalkeeper Cassandra De Amaral, and midfielders Jessye Large and Caylah Lemon.

“We’re a huge culture-based program,” Pennington said. “And I honestly feel like if you get that piece right with some good players on the park, you’ll eke out some results. You might beat some better teams with some more individual players with a kind of collective mentality.”

Allie Shiyuk has one season to wear the arm band and make an impact on team culture before aging out of her Canada West career, taking over the captaincy from Grether.

“There was a little bit of uncertainty on what that was going to look like, with a bunch of our really strong core leaders leaving the team,” said Shiyuk, the fifth-year defender from Surrey.

“But I have to give credit to every single girl on the team, both rookies and also the vets, who have all been extremely welcoming to all the new players.”

Juli La Rotta, who cracked the Canada West all-rookie team last year, is expected to bring speed and promise on the wing working alongside Albanian forward Esi Lufo, who has three goals and seven assists in 26 games with the Pack.

“I think we have a good team this year,” said Lufo, noting the rookie-Calgarian-midfielder duo of Makenna Ford and Nat Siez are catching her eye. “There are new players with a lot of desire. They have desire to play and score. The environment is pretty good.”

Floor Ursem, a 5-foot-10 import from Uitgeest, Netherlands, is among suitors for the vacant starting goalkeeper position.

“The other two goalies [Genevieve Benning and Makayla Kusch] are really nice and we have a really good bond with each other,” Ursem said. “Everyone wants to play, but if you’re not playing, you just encourage the other to play better. It’s a really good culture.”

In 2022, the WolfPack won their first U Sports post-season game and reached the Canada West Final Four for the first time in program history.

The team has not reached the post-season since, posting four wins, eight losses and two draws in 2024 to miss the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

“That’s our goal of the season, to go to the playoffs,” Lufo said. “Like, why not?

by Marty Hastings

WolfPack aim to fill roster holes, establish culture after graduating key players

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