Women’s soccer starting strong

Wilfrid Laurier University’s women’s soccer has come out firing this season with three victories and one loss after claiming the Ontario University Athletics title last year.


Photo by Heath Davidson
Photo by Heath Davidson

Wilfrid Laurier University’s women’s soccer has come out firing this season with three victories and one loss, just one year after claiming the Ontario University Athletics title.

At the forefront of the team is the leading scorer in the OUA last season, Emily Brown. Last year, she netted 18 goals, and this season she already has six in her first four games.

The first two games were on Aug. 30 and 31 against the Windsor Lancers and the Waterloo Warriors. They won 5-0 and 4-0 respectively.

After the two victories, head coach Barry MacLean reflected on what Brown means to the team.

“Emily’s gotten better every year. The goals aren’t really a reflection of how she’s playing now. She keeps us in possession, she holds the ball for us, and her tactical awareness is better” he said.

Brown spoke on getting the season started on a high note after their second win against Waterloo.

“We made a statement with a 5-0 win and we wanted to come out strong and kind of set the tone of the season. We have a strong first game to work off of, and we hope we will get stronger from here,” she said.

On Sept. 6 and 7 the team brought their two straight victories to the Western Mustangs and then the Guelph Gryphons.

The weekend got off to a rough start, as the Hawks were unable to score against the undefeated Mustangs. It was a rematch of last year’s OUA final and they dropped the contest 2-0, despite a strong effort on the field.

The next day was a more familiar story for the Hawks, as Brown opened the scoring against the Gryphons in the first half.

Laurier’s offense got rolling in the second half with forward Nicole Lyon, and midfielders Dajana Solomun and Julie Maheu scoring to put the Hawks up 4-0.

Solomun scored her first goal as a Hawk on Sunday and Brown would add an extra tally in the final minutes of the game for her sixth.

After losing her flawless record against the Mustangs, goalkeeper Maggie Carmichael returned to form, shutting the door and stopping all three shots against the Gryphons.

Although starting the season off on a solid note is important, McLean isn’t worried about getting results at the moment.

He noted his main concern is getting good performances out of the players and trying to build on that. He is confident about the team coming into this season and realizes their potential.

“We’re very strong in pretty much every position and we got good backups, so we got a lot of depth this year.”

Brown agreed that team performance is crucial to their success down the road.

“I think our focus is going to be on a good performance. I think we need to stay at our top level and play to the best of our abilities and ultimately get that win because that’s what’s important,” she explained.

The Golden Hawks continue their season by travelling to Sault  Saint Marie to face newcomers to the OUA, the Algoma Thunderbirds, in a doubleheader.

The Thunderbirds have allowed 58 goals this season and scored none. They take to the pitch on Sept. 13 at 1 p.m.

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