CALGARY – Following nearly a perfect two-game roadtrip to start the season, the University of Calgary Dinos women's soccer team will look to continue its high-powered attack with a pair of home games this weekend, starting Friday.
Calgary will play the first game at Dinosaur Field of the season under the lights on Friday when they welcome Manitoba to campus for a 6 p.m. kickoff. Winnipeg then comes to campus Sunday for a noon contest in the first half of a doubleheader with the Dinos men's squad that will take on Lethbridge following the conclusion of the women's game.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
STRONG START – Calgary got its season off to a flying start this past weekend with a perfect 2-0 record, notching wins on the road at Thompson Rivers and UBC-Okanagan. The Dinos won the opener 5-0, before pitching another shutout in a 2-0 win over the Heat on Sunday.
GETTING EVERYONE INVOLVED – One year after leaning on U SPORTS Player of the Year and goal-scoring phenom
Montana Leonard to lead the offensive charge, the Dinos appear to have a much more balanced attack through the first two games of the 2022 season. Calgary has found the back of the net seven times so far this season, with each coming from a different player. The seven different goal-scorers nearly equals the same number from all of last season (10) and is tied with Ottawa and Mount Royal for the most in the nation in the early going.
NEW FACES, SAME RESULTS – While there were understandably some questions around this Dinos program following an offseason that saw the graduation of the majority of its starting XI and former head coach Troye Flannery, this year's squad quickly answered those questions. Third-year midfielder
Rachel Barlow – one of the team's most veteran returners – scored once and added three assists in the Dinos perfect 2-0 start to the season and offered these thoughts following the first win of the year:
"We just wanted to come out really strong. This is a brand new team. We had a bunch of graduating players, so we just wanted to prove a point today that we're still the University of Calgary Dinos and we're still going strong. We just wanted to come out and show them who we are."
DOMINANT DEFENCE – While the offence garnered the majority of the headlines after scoring seven goals in the first two games of the year, the Dinos defence has been equally as impressive. Transfer
Caley Leask turned in a pair of shutouts in her first two games in net for the Scarlet & Gold, making four saves in earning the two wins. In fact, Calgary allowed just 10 total shots in the first two contests and are one of just two teams in all of Canada West to yet to allow a goal on the year.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT – Manitoba comes to Calgary with a 2-0 record to start the season after knocking off Regina (3-1) and Saskatchewan (1-0) on the road last weekend. Bianca Cavalcanti and Breyanna Johnston-Krulicki have provided the offensive firepower so far, scoring all four goals for the Bisons, thus far.
Meanwhile, Winnipeg is 0-1-1 on the young season, dropping a 3-1 result at Saskatchewan in its opener before settling for a 0-0 draw at Regina. The Wesmen will head to UNBC for a Friday contest against the Timberwolves before Sunday's game at Dinosaur Field.
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