PREVIEW: Women’s soccer kicks off FISU Americas tournament in Mexico

Photo: Tim Austen
Photo: Tim Austen
October 14, 2022

Riding high on a seven-match winning streak in conference play, the Gee-Gees women's soccer team has travelled to Mexico to partake in the FISU Americas tournament.

Following their triumph at the 2019 FISU University World Cup, the team has clinched a spot in the 2023 edition of the tournament, but must attend the FISU Americas qualifying competition to secure their spot in the 2023 FISU tourney.

Regardless of their performance in Mexico, Ottawa is assured a spot at next year's tournament in China.

"It's going to be a different environment and a different climate," said Gee-Gees head coach Steve Johnson. "I'm looking forward to seeing what the competition gives us. We have no idea how these teams will play, so it's going to be a challenge for the players and staff to make sure we get the best result possible."

Ottawa will be participating in the tournament with three counterparts: Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico), University Salgado de Oliveira (Brazil) and Universidade Paulista (Brazil). Paulista should be a familiar name for Gee-Gees faithful, as Ottawa beat the Brazilian school in the final of the 2019 tournament.

Ottawa's schedule of the tournament is as follows: 

  • Saturday, Oct. 15 at 5:00 p.m. ET versus University Salgado de Oliveira
  • Monday, Oct. 17 at 5:00 p.m. ET versus Monterrey
  • Wednesday, Oct. 19 at 7:00 p.m. ET versus Paulista
  • Friday, Oct. 21 at 5:00 p.m. or 7:00 p.m. semifinals
  • Sunday, Oct. 23 at 5:00 p.m. or 7:00 p.m. bronze/gold medal matches

The Gee-Gees staff has selected a strong squad to represent Canada, featuring many of the team's mainstays. Captain Katerine Delev, leading goal scorers Cassandra Provost, Angelina Gendreau and Olivia Allen, goalkeeper Cassidy Joslin and reigning FISU University World Cup MVP Trinity Esprit will all be in Mexico.

A curious twist is that Ottawa still has an OUA fixture to fulfill during the tournament on Sunday, Oct. 23 against RMC. The players in Mexico will return to Canada in time to commence the OUA playoffs and a push to the U SPORTS National Championship. 

A portion of the athletes will remain in Canada for the match at RMC, including Allana Oriente, Ciara Dunne, Olivia Krzywonos and Juliann Lacasse. Assistant coach Veronica Mazzella will lead the team for that matchup.

The group stage of the 2022 FISU Americas tournament will not be live streamed, but live score updates will be provided on the Gee-Gees Twitter account (@GeeGeesWSOC). The medal round games will be streamed live on the FISU America Games Facebook page.