Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

THOMPSON RIVERS UNIVERSITY

With sights set high, WolfPack women’s soccer starts the Canada West season on the road

Aug 28, 2024 | 6:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — Despite the October-like temperatures, the TRU WolfPack women’s soccer team is ready for the Heat — the UBC-Okanagan Heat — in the season opener this Friday night (Aug. 30).

“We’ve had a really good preseason and I’m just excited,” fourth-year midfielder Caylah Lemon tells CFJC Today. “I think this year is going to be a good year for us.”

After a trip to the Canada West semi-finals in 2022, the ‘Pack just missed a playoff berth in 2023. Heading into this season, Thompson Rivers has been picked to finish 9th in Canada West, as per the pre-season coaches poll, in what may be the most competitive division in the country.

“You have to be on it. Every game in Canada West is a tough game, so we have to be able to compete and close spaces down, squeeze spaces properly, and be really dialled in defensively,” Head Coach Mark Pennington says. “And then we get on the ball, we need to look to make things happen and play into some of our strengths and cause teams problems.”

With a solid core of veterans throughout the WolfPack lineup, as well as first- and second-year athletes who can step in and produce, the athletes believe they have the team to compete for a playoff spot.

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“This year, something just feels different,” goalkeeper Cassandra De Amaral says. “There’s a fire within this team. Everyone is really excited, really amped up and we want to make this year a really good year.”

“We have a really good team culture this year,” Lemon says. “All the girls get along, we’re having fun, we’re competing, we’re keeping our standards high and keeping each other accountable, which is really important. I think we’re just ready to have fun and compete as a group.”

If TRU hopes to get back to the Canada West playoffs, they’ll have to finish in the top four in the Pacific Division. That means beating teams like UBCO in order to ensure they finish ahead of their rivals from the Okanagan.

“We have an opportunity every year to push ourselves to the limit and push ourselves to the top of the table,” De Amaral explains. “We’ve got some tough competition this year, but with the work we’ve been putting in and the squad we have, we’re really set up for a good position.”

Hard work will be the key to success for this team as they get the season underway.

“We always want to be one of the hardest-working teams in the league. We don’t want to be outworked and outfought by our opponents,” Pennington says. “That kind of underlines a lot of our team identity. We want to be a team that can get on the ball a little more now, and make things happen.”

The WolfPack women open up their home schedule on September 6 against Trinity Western and September 7 against Fraser Valley at Hillside Stadium.