CALGARY - With both Dinos soccer teams coming off disappointing weekends at home, they look to rebound on the road. This will not be easy however, as they both face traditional Canada West soccer powerhouses University of British Columbia Thunderbirds and the University of Victoria Vikes.
The women come off a weekend where they tied the University of Alberta Pandas 1-1 and lost to the Saskatchewan Huskies 3-2. This was particularly disappointing because it exposed the lack of consistency that the lady Dinos are faced with. Flashes of brilliance were around the entire weekend, but it is the lapses in focus that they need to figure out in order to come away with the first victory of their season.
Morena Ianniello (3rd, Calgary) is establishing herself on the front-line for the Dinos, with her exceptional mix of speed and skill. Ianniello proved to be a force in their game against the Pandas; however she was not as effective against the Huskies. She will need to be able to learn to withstand constant defensive attention as teams are quickly becoming aware of her advanced skill level.
With veteran Annie Hayes (5th, Calgary) out of the lineup, defender Caitlin Milne (3rd, Calgary) and goalkeeper Courtney Heffernan (3rd, Calgary) amongst others have been forced to step up and become leaders on a very young Dinos squad. The Dinos will need this direction to become the team they believe they can be, and find the offensive consistency that they desire. Consistent energy will prove to be a key factor as well, something that rookie Jane Leung (1st, Calgary), and second year Saaraa Premji (2nd, Calgary) have already been able to provide.
The men are struggling to find the back of the net amidst numerous scoring chances. Coach Andy Gibbs believes that this is as much psychological as it is physical.
“We need to stop lamenting the fact that we keep wasting our scoring chances” said Gibbs. “We need to step up and shoot with confidence.”
Jeremy Jenkyns (3rd, Calgary) has proven to be an offensive threat for the Dinos, scoring twice in his first four games. However aside from him, the group is also struggling to find offensive consistency. Forwards Lauren Ramos (5th, Calgary) and Fernando Di Capua (2nd, Calgary) have found themselves with different chances deep in the opposing zone but haven't been able to dial any in thus far.
Goaltending is definitely a strength for the Dinos this year, as Rick Urbanczyk (5th, Calgary) and #J.P. Crescenzi# (3rd, Calgary) have stepped up as leaders for the program. Along with defensive leader Joe Long, (1st, Calgary), this security in the back end should hopefully kick start the Dinos in their quest for converting their scoring opportunities.
The lady T-Birds had an undefeated weekend, with a relatively easy 2-0 victory over Fraser Valley but only managed a 1-1 draw with the Spartans of Trinity Western. The men shutout their in-province rivals, Trinity Western and the University of the Fraser Valley by scores of 2-0 and 1-0 respectively.
The UVic women split their weekend set versus TWU and UFV, losing to the Spartans 1-2, and beating the Cascades 2-0. The men were fortunate enough to walk out of the weekend with two victories over those same two schools, beating TWU 3-0, and UFV 1-0.
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