“We don’t just win games to win games. We win games because we want to win the championship”
Cassandra Provost’s journey to being named the 2022 U SPORTS Player of the Year began when she was six years old. Like many Canadians, that’s when the Acton Vale, Que. native began playing soccer. As she grew older, the 5’8” striker began idolizing players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Christine Sinclair.
But unlike many Canadians, there was something different about Cass, now a striker for the Gee-Gees women’s soccer team. Although she was also a gymnast for about 10 years and played hockey, she was a star on the pitch.
Programs in the States were beginning to notice Provost by the time she was 16, and she received offers of full scholarships to American schools. “I just wanted to prioritize my studies [over] soccer, so that’s why I stayed here,” she explained to the Fulcrum. “It was closer to home, too, so it was easier for me.”
The striker ended up attending Champlain College Saint-Lambert, a CEGEP on the south shore of Montreal, after high school. With the program, she scored four goals in seven regular season games, powering them to regular season and postseason titles. After also winning the 2019 Première ligue de soccer du Québec title with the Club de soccer Monteuil, it was time to make a decision on university.
“I remember [the U of O] when I was like maybe 16, 17, talked to me, just showing their interests. So, I just contacted them back when I was ready for university, and they were really happy that I called them [laughs].”
I’d say head coach Steve Johnson and company being “really happy” about Provost committing to the Gee-Gees is probably a bit of an understatement. Not that Johnson hasn’t advanced talented players through the program — since taking the helm in 1994, the seven-time OUA Coach of the Year has seen his players get international caps for Canada, Lebanon, Haiti, and Algeria. Even more former Gee-Gees have played pro after graduating from the program.
But the Acton Vale native is a game changer, as evidenced by her beyond-impressive 2022 season. During that year, her second with the Gees, Provost she won U SPORTS player of the year, led the country in goals, helped the U of O to its first OUA championship since 2018, while also being a key member of the squad that went on to win gold at the International University Sports Federation (FISU) championships in Mexico.
The 2024 season will be the fifth (the 2020 season was lost to COVID-19, and no games were played) for Provost under the same coaching staff, and she explains that the steady presence of Johnson and the rest of the coaching staff helps Gee-Gees grow not just as players, but as people.
“They know you as a player and as a person. When you get there, it takes time to get adjusted, but over the years, I feel like everyone knows everyone better (…) that’s where [players] start getting better and know exactly what they need to work on, and what is working well for [them].”
In addition to the proximity to home, Provost points to the professional women’s soccer league coming to Canada in 2025 as a benefit to playing in U SPORTS. “Women’s soccer is like, growing, growing up, with Project 8, the professional league and everything. So, I felt like it was a good program because you’re in the middle of it. It’s not like if you go to the [USA], and it’s [the] NWSL which is super hard to get in. But I feel like the new league will be easier for players to get into, especially U SPORTS players.”
For the second year in a row, Provost and the Gee-Gees picked up the OUA championship, the 11th in program history. And for a program with an ever-growing list of accomplishments, that championship is their goal every season.
“That’s what we work on the whole year long,” Provost explained. “We don’t just win games to win games. We win games because we want to win the championship and get [to Nationals]. It feels great to win it again.”
After winning the championship on home turf at Matt Anthony Field, the squad travelled down the road to Kingston for the U SPORTS national championships. In the quarterfinals, seedings determined by the division’s performance at the previous season’s nationals left the first-ranked Gees with a tough matchup in the second-ranked UBC Thunderbirds.
In a tight matchup with slim margins, all it took was one play to advance the Thunderbirds. Soon after a trip on winger Jenna Matsukubo inside the box wasn’t called, UBC would score on a clearing attempt that was miscommunicated by the Gees’ defenders and keeper. UBC would go on to win the championship, and the U of O would finish in sixth place overall. The Gees hadn’t been down as much as a single goal all season — until that quarterfinal game.
But Provost isn’t dwelling too much on those singular plays and is focused more on the overall performance of the team, and ensuring they return to nationals next season. “Obviously you can always change some stuff. But there’s always [things like those], soccer is a game of mistakes, a game against the referee, they’re part of the game and you kind of have to deal with it.”
In a single-elimination tournament, those small plays, penalty calls, and missed penalty calls can make a huge difference in the end, and Provost explained that’s what happened in the case of the Gee-Gees. “Sometimes it’s on your side. Sometimes it’s not. Of course, looking back, it sucks that we didn’t win that game, because it was the first game and well, they won the championship obviously.”
The fact that there is even disappointment amongst the team and its fanbase about the loss is a product of the sky-high expectations that the Gee-Gees have had for what seems like an eternity, and Provost understands that. “Looking back at it, just going to nationals is a good thing. We didn’t expect to lose in the first game, but we’re going to try and change that for next year, obviously.”
With the Gee-Gees essentially running the same roster back next season, the team has a good chance to do just that. Provost was originally noncommittal about returning to the Gees for the 2024, considering she is due to complete her Bachelor’s degree in accounting this upcoming spring, but she announced shortly after nationals via Instagram that she would be coming back.
The striker explained that she had been debating enrolling in a Master’s program for some time, and finally came to a decision that was at least partly two-fold. “Both school and soccer, I just wanted to come back, do one more year, and just have fun with the program and the team again,” explained Provost.
Life after soccer is at the top of Provost’s mind, who broke her own program record for goals in a season in 2023, with 23 — in just 12 games! When asked about future plans, she explained that her post-soccer career would be taken care of before embarking on a pro career. “I’ve had [pro] offers for like, five, six, years now.
I just want to finish school. Just get this done with, making sure my life after soccer is set. I feel like at my age it’s more a decision of what I want to do after my Master’s, and I want to really think about that in advance, because life’s changing [laughs].
But yeah, for sure, it’s an opportunity I could go to play [professional soccer]. The opportunity is there, so it’s going to be more [of a decision] after my Master’s, is it like ‘this is what I want to do’, or do I prefer staying here and doing something else.”
