Women's Soccer Preview
The women's PACWEST soccer schedule opens this weekend!
The PACWEST women’s soccer schedule opens on Saturday with all four schools in action. The first game that will kick off is on the island when the VIU Mariners welcome the Langara Falcons. An hour later the defending Conference champion Douglas Royals visit the Capilano Blues in a gold medal rematch game.
Douglas Royals
2023 Result: 5-3-4 during the regular season and won PACWEST gold.
Key Returning Players: The Royals return several key pieces to their gold medal team from last year including Pak-Tung Tsang (4th season), Christine Singh (4th season) and Anna Klaver-Valdez (2nd season). In all, eight student athletes are back for their fourth campaign.
Keepers: A pair of talented veterans are back in the mix for the Royals with the return of PACWEST championship MVP Vanessa Chung entering her third season and Estelle Gonzales also heading into her third year.
Capilano Blues
2023 Result: 7-2-3 during the regular season and won PACWEST silver. It wasn’t the medal the Blues were hoping for after finishing with the best record in the regular season which included five clean sheets, three of which in the final month.
Key Returning Players: Mya Fraser returns for her fifth and final season and is the only fifth year player. There are three fourth year players coming back including midfielders Maya Smith and Kai Belbin along with defender Lauren Grey who will be relied upon to lead the younger players this season.
Keepers: They have three keepers in the mix but none of them have very much experience. Riya Gill enters her second season while Amaya Salvino and Rachel Laakmann are both rookies, hoping to crack the roster.
VIU Mariners
2023 Result: 3-5-4 during the regular season. They finished third last season and made an early exit at the PACWEST championship tournament, falling 2-0 to the eventual gold medalists. They didn’t win a game in the month of October last season, something head coach Bobbie Taylor is wanting to change this year when we flip the calendar.
Key Returning Players: Several important pieces for their success return including all-star Saki Meshida (5th season), defender Mya Creed (3rd season), Taylor Kinley (5th season) and Hannah Rose (3rd season).
Keepers: They have three on their roster, but two are rookies. Third year keeper Kaiden Thorpe should carry the load however Mckenna Brown and Brooke Ingram will push Kaiden in their first season. Brown is out of Langley, while Ingram is a local Nanaimo product.
Langara Falcons
2023 Results: 2-7-3 during the regular season. They are much better than their record indicates losing five times by two goals are less. They need to find some offensive production this season to be more competitive in 2024.
Key Returning Players: Alex Paul was a PACWEST all-star and returns this season for her third campaign. She will need to play a major factor in any Falcons success this season. Defender Grace Jorgenson also returns and enters her fourth season and will need to be a key piece defending the backline.
Keepers: Both keepers from last year are back and presumably Mackenzie Main will be the starter as she enters her third season, but Alexis Macauley is hungry for playing time going into her second campaign. Both keepers will push the other to be better between the pipes for the Falcons.