SEASON PREVIEW: Women’s soccer look to compete for third consecutive OUA title

After earning their second consecutive OUA Championship in 2023, the Gee-Gees women's soccer team is looking to put together another winning season. The 2024 season gets started with a Friday evening matchup on home turf.

The 12-game regular season schedule starts with three home games as the Gee-Gees welcome Laurentian, Trent, and Queen's to Matt Anthony Field. The squad hits the road to take on Laurentian for a second time, followed by a visit to Nipissing. Ottawa wraps up their remaining three home games by Sept. 27 before closing out the season with four road games. The Gee-Gees' last OUA regular season game is slated for Oct. 13 at Queen's.

"I certainly think we're capable of winning the OUA again and competing at the national stage," said Gee-Gees head coach, Steve Johnson. "There are several programs that are capable doing the same. We've had good matchups over the past couple of years and have performed well and it'll be great if we have good, consistent, performances this year."

Ottawa graduated their captain, Adriane Devlin, after a wonderful career in the Garnet and Grey. Devlin's departure leaves OUA First Team All-Star, Maya Smith, to operate the defence.

The Gee-Gees are returning an impressive attack with the likes of Cassandra Provost, Jenna Matsukubo, Allana Oriente, and Nibo Dlamini.

"We are returning powerful offensive personalities, we need to replace our defence as we've graduated important players over the last two years," Johnson said. "There are promising rookies in camp as well as veterans that are waiting for their opportunities. We'll see what the right combination is."

Provost had another record-breaking year in 2023, scoring 23 goals in 12 regular season games to earn OUA East Most Valuable Player and First team All-Canadian honours. Matsukubo made an immediate impact for the Gee-Gees, leading the OUA with 10 assists and earning Second Team All-Star honours.

The Gee-Gees home opener is on Aug. 30 at 6PM against Laurentian. Tickets for the home opener and all other home games can be purchased at teams.geegees.ca/tickets. All women's soccer home games will be streamed on OUA.tv.