CIS Announces Canada�s women�s soccer roster
OTTAWA (CIS) – Canadian Interuniversity Sport announced Friday the 20 student-athletes who will represent Canada in women’s soccer at the 26th Summer Universiade in August in Shenzhen, China.
2011 Summer Universiade website: http://www.sz2011.org/Universiade
Team Canada website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/summer
The all-CIS roster is dominated by the Canada West conference and the Trinity Western Spartans, who were crowned CIS champions twice in the last three years. No less than 14 Canada West standouts will make the trip to China including six TWU all-stars.
Almost half the team (9) returns from the last world university games in 2009 in Belgrade, Serbia, where Canada advanced out of pool play before finishing seventh out of 16 countries.
“I feel like we have a good, balanced team that is a good representation of the players we have in CIS,” says Trinity Western’s Graham Roxburgh, who was announced as Team Canada head coach last May. “We looked for players who could adapt to the next level because even though it is university students, it is a completely different level. Speed of play, the ability to play faster, the ability to be more athletic, to be more aggressive and physical and yet still have a soccer maturity that will allow them to play in a much more competitive environment.”
“We weren’t necessarily just looking for the best and most talented players but for the players we thought would be parts of a puzzle that would complete a picture,” adds Roxburgh, who was also at the helm of the 2009 Canadian squad.
Defending the Canadian net in Shenzhen will be goalkeepers Kristen Funk, a Trinity Western student from Calgary, and Rachel Badek, a St. Thomas, Ont., native who attends Carleton University.
The backfield is comprised of TWU teammates Jilian Dietrich of Calgary and Kristen Santema of Coquitlam, B.C., UBC’s Jessica Briker of Kelowna, B.C., UQAM’s Justine Labrecque of Quebec City, Queen’s Brienna Shaw of Vancouver, as well as Alberta’s Keshia Wallin St. Albert, Alta.
The seven midfielders are the Trinity Western duo of Natalie Boyd of Surrey, B.C., and Melissa Mobilio of Coquitlam, Saskatchewan’s Daniela Fuenzalida of Saskatoon, Sherbrooke’s Andréanne Gagné of St-Hyacinthe, Que., Wilfrid Laurier’s Alyssa Lagonia of Kitchener, Ont., Alberta’s Carleigh Miller of St. Albert, and Victoria’s Jaclyn Sawicki of Coquitlam.
Up front, Victoria’s Kendra Flock of Calgary, UBC’s Janine Frazao of Port Moody, B.C., Montreal’s Véronique Laverdière of Montreal, Calgary’s Tessa Miller of Calgary and Trinity Western’s Nikki Wright of Cloverdale, B.C., are the strikers who hope to fill the opposition’s net.
Funk, Briker, Dietrich, Shaw, Wallin, Gagné, Flock, Laverdière and Wright are all veterans from the 2009 Games. Mobilio was also selected two years ago but missed the competition due to an injury.
Laverdière is the reigning CIS player of the year, while Shaw led Queen’s to the CIS national title last fall.
In Shenzhen, Canada will compete in the preliminary round in Pool A against tournament host China, reigning bronze medalist Great Britain, as well as Taiwan. A total of 12 countries are entered in the tourney.
The defending Universiade champion is South Korea, which defeated Japan in the 2009 gold-medal final.
“We’re up against it because I feel in our pool we have two of what I would consider some of the strongest teams in the tournament in China and Great Britain. I don’t know much about Taiwan but I know it will be an incredibly competitive group and we’re going to have to figure out a way to take points off of each team,” says Roxburgh, who led his team to a pair of wins over China in 2009 including a 2-1 victory in the preliminary round and a 1-0 shutout (5-4 in PK) in the seventh-place match.
Women’s soccer made its Universiade debut as a demonstration sport at the 1993 Buffalo Games when the women’s soccer tournament was held in Hamilton. The sport became an official Universiade discipline in 2001 in Beijing, China.
Canada has finished fifth on two occasions, first in Buffalo when six teams competed in the tourney and then in Izmir, Turkey, in 2005, when 12 countries participated in the event.
Rounding out the team’s support staff for the 2011 Games are team leader Jorge Sanchez from Concordia University, assistant coach Eva Havaris from Toronto, goalie coach and video analyst Neil Turner from Trinity Western and athletic therapist Neena Gupta.
Sanchez served in the same role in Serbia.
The team will hold a final training camp including three exhibition games in Vancouver from July 30 to August 5 before departing for China.
TEAM CANADA ROSTER
Position Name University Hometown
Goalkeeper Rachel Badek Carleton St. Thomas, Ont.
Goalkeeper Kristen Funk Trinity Western Calgary, Alta.
Defender Jessica Briker UBC Kelowna, B.C.
Defender Jilian Dietrich Trinity Western Calgary, Alta.
Defender Justine Labrecque UQAM Quebec City, Que.
Defender Kristen Santema Trinity Western Coquitlam, B.C.
Defender Brienna Shaw Queen’s Vancouver, B.C.
Defender Keshia Wallin Alberta St. Albert, Alta.
Midfield Natalie Boyd Trinity Western Surrey, B.C.
Midfield Daniela Fuenzalida Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Sask.
Midfield Andréanne Gagné Sherbrooke St-Hyacinthe, Que.
Midfield Alyssa Lagonia Wilfrid Laurier Kitchener, Ont.
Midfield Carleigh Miller Alberta St. Albert, Alta.
Midfield Melissa Mobilio Trinity Western Coquitlam, B.C.
Midfield Jaclyn Sawicki Victoria Coquitlam, B.C.
Striker Kendra Flock Victoria Calgary, Alta.
Striker Janine Frazao UBC Port Moody, B.C.
Striker Véronique Laverdière Montreal Montreal, Que.
Striker Tessa Miller Calgary Calgary, Alta.
Striker Nikki Wright Trinity Western Cloverdale, B.C.
STAFF
Position Name University
Head coach Graham Roxburgh Trinity Western
Assistant coach Eva Havaris Toronto
Goalie coach / video Neil Turner Trinity Western
Team leader Jorge Sanchez Concordia
Athletic therapist Neena Gupta Toronto/McGill
UNIVERSIADE POOLS:
The Universiade women’s soccer tournament will run from August 11-21. The detailed schedule will be announced at a later date.
Pool A: China, Great Britain, CANADA, Taiwan
Pool B: South Korea, Russia, Mexico, South Africa
Pool C: Japan, France, Brazil, Estonia
CANADA’S RESULTS IN WOMEN’S SOCCER AT THE UNIVERSIADE:
2009 (Belgrade, Serbia): 7th / 16 teams
2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): 10th / 16
2005 (Izmir, Turkey): 5th / 12
2003 (Daegu, South Korea): 10th / 11
2001 (Beijing, China): 11th / 12
1993 (Buffalo, USA): 5th / 6
About the Summer Universiade
The Summer Universiade is an international multi-sport event that takes place every two years and is second only to the Olympic Games in the number of participating athletes and countries. The Universiade is open to competitors who are at least 17 and less than 28 years of age as of January 1 in the year of the Games. Participants must be full-time students at a post-secondary institution (university, college, CEGEP) or have graduated from a post-secondary institution in the year preceding the event.
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