SEASON PREVIEW: Women’s soccer opens on the road in Toronto

The Gee-Gees women's soccer team will be looking to open the season with six points in The 6ix.

Ottawa's quest for another deep playoff run begins the weekend of Sept. 3 when they travel to face the Toronto Varsity Blues and Toronto Metropolitan University. Kickoff for both games is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

The Gee-Gees will need to find their best form in those opening matches, as their OUA East rivals from Queen's will be in town the next weekend. The Gaels ended Ottawa's 2021 campaign in the OUA semi-final, and the matchup on Friday, Sept. 9 will be the lone meeting between the schools in the regular season.

"I'd like to see if this team can improve on last year's regular season, and last year's season was one of the best in the team's history," said head coach Steve Johnson. "Are we capable of being better? It's possible."

The schedule sees them play a total of 12 regular season games, up from 10 last season. The highlight of the schedule is a home-and-home with the Carleton Ravens as part of the Rivalry Weekend surrounding the Panda Game. The teams will play at Matt Anthony Field on Thursday, Sept. 29 and at TAAG Park on Oct. 2.

The 2022 season will be a unique one for the Gee-Gees, who are aiming to defend their title at the FISU University World Cup. As the current title holders, Ottawa has gained entry into the tournament in China in early 2023, but will nevertheless compete in the FISU Americas Qualifying Tournament in Mexico in late October.

"The FISU America games in Mexico presents a huge opportunity for the program to experience that type of sporting event, which could be a one-in-a-lifetime for some," said Johnson, who is entering his 28^th season as head coach. "But it also poses a huge challenge for our program to be able to pull that off – trying to be great in the OUA and great in Mexico." 

Due to the unique schedule, Ottawa is carrying an expanded roster of 29 players, including seven rookies and two transfers – Kayla Kyle (Bishop's) and Ciara Dunne (Waterloo).

Highlighting the list of returning players are reigning conference all-stars Katerine Delev, Trinity Esprit and Adriane Devlin. Cassandra Provost, the 2021 OUA East Rookie of the Year, is also primed for a strong second season. With the team's leading goal scorer – Emma Lefebvre – having graduated, Provost will be looking to take on an increased role in the offence.

In addition to Provost, offensive firepower will be provided by Nibo Dlamini, Angelina Gendreau and Allana Oriente, while Soumaya Bouak could receive playing time at striker or in the midfield.

Defensively, the team will be anchored by centre backs Maya Smith and Second Team All-Canadian Kayla Kyle, while Tessa Frangione could see more minutes after playing sparingly in her rookie season. Transfer Cassidy Joslin is back between the sticks for the Garnet and Grey, with Juliann Lacasse and Mariah Harper serving as reserve keepers.

"We've got a really strong leadership group, and no doubt they're going to be busy," said Johnson. "It's a bigger roster than we're normally used to, we don't have any experience with trying to win an OUA and U SPORTS title, and we're trying to win FISU Mexico. We need to get ahead of it." 

Along with Lefebvre, the Gee-Gees graduated veteran players Hailey Walsh, Julia Tardioli, Elise Lacoste and Charlotte Gagnon-Lewis. Sadie Sider-Echenberg, the 2021-22 Gee-Gees Female Rookie of the Year, has also left to pursue professional opportunities. 

Tickets for all Gee-Gees home games, including the home opener on Friday, Sept. 9, are available for purchase at tickets.geegees.ca. All women's soccer home games will be streamed on OUA.tv.