CCAA Women's Soccer Championships Feature
by ACAC Sports Writer Curtis J. Phillips
For seven years in a row, prior to entering the 2017 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Women's National Soccer Championship which concluded Saturday in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the Elans de Garneau and NAIT Ooks have stood on the podium be it gold, silver or bronze.
Elans, from Quebec, City and members of Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) found five gold grabs in 2010-2011 and 2014-2016.
The Ooks, from Edmonton of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC), earned silver four times 2010-2011, 20114-2015 and bronze in 2012.
The only other school to medal more than once during this time frame was Collège Ahuntsic Indiens with silver 2016, bronze 2015, gold 2012 and bronze 2011.
With the Indiens not qualifying this year, the odds would be in favour of either Elans or NAIT to medal.
Opening day Wednesday in Quarter-Final matches the, Grande Prairie Regional Colleges Wolves, ACAC champions, exploded for a 5-0 decision over the St. Thomas Tommies (Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association - ACAA) with Shelby Henley earning Player of the Game status.
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| GPRC Wolves vs St. Thomas Tommies |
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| NAIT Ooks vs Douglas Royals |
"It was a good start for us and we played well," said Wolves' coach Chris Morgan. "We had high hopes for that first game. But it may have given us too much confidence for the next game."
Meanwhile the NAIT Ooks lost their opener, edged by the Douglas Royals 1-0.
"We played really well, we just couldn't hit the net," said Ooks' coach Carole Holt. "We created five awesome opportunities and we did enough to win but it just didn't happen."
In semi-final play Thursday the Wolves fell to Ch. St-Lambert Cavaliers 3-1 with Rookie Kelsey Wudewich scoring the Wolves' lone goal on a second half penalty kick..
"It was a close game to be fair," said Morgan. "It was a tight game that went end-to-end and they got their third goal which knocked the stuffing out of us."
In the bronze medal qualifier, the NAIT Ooks throttled the Dalhousie AC Rams by the largest margin in the tournament 9-0.
"The players were obviously disappointed from the opening game," said Holt. "We recognized quickly that we needed to score and they responded really well. We challenged our front three players in that they had to put the ball in the net."
Friday it was the Wolves and Ooks meeting up in the bronze semi-final the Ooks winning 2-0, which lead to Saturday's Bronze Medal match the Ooks losing to Algonquin Thunder 3-1 while the Wolves in a 5th/6th placement game, were shutout by the Royals 1-0.
"The weather was terrible and we had to warm-up inside," recalled Holt of the bronze medal match. "It became colder as the game progressed but we played very well. I felt we deserved to win that game."
The gold went to, for the fourth consecutive time in a row, to the Elans de Garneau beating the Cavaliers 1-0.
This was the eight consecutive trip to the CCAA Women's Soccer Nationals for the Ooks and Holt anticipates many more qualifications in the future.
"Next year we have some work to do, so this is the time of year that we start to follow up on players. For myself as a coach, it is hard to put so much in and you get close so many times. But we are also realistic in that we only train players for three months and what we accomplish in such a short period of time, we are really proud of."
For the Wolves it was their second straight appearance at the CCAA event having placed 6th in Montreal last year.
"Personally, I thought we could have done better," said Morgan. "But once again it was a good experience for all of the players, especially the rookies and hopefully we will be here again next year. It is difficult to attract players to the north but this will help us out."
Ooks Kaily Mohn and Mia Simon along with Wolves' Bailey Zhorodniuk were named tournament all-stars.