Gee-Gees win a two-game weekend at home
Spencer Van Dyk | Fulcrum Staff
Photo courtesy of Sports Services
THE GEE-GEES WOMEN’S soccer team took two clear wins this weekend: 5-0 against the Carleton University Ravens on Friday and 9-0 against the Trent University Excalibur on Sunday. The successes render the team undefeated as they head into their final game of the regular season next weekend.
Sunday’s cold, wet weather didn’t seem to put a damper on the Gee-Gees’ spirit. Although the game got off to an unusually slow start, as the first goal was scored at 28 minutes to halftime, the first half finished with a 3-0 lead with goals scored by strikers Vanessa MacMillan and Krista Draycott, and midfielder Corina Jarrett.
Head coach Steve Johnson and team captain Christine Hardie said the impressive final score did not necessarily reflect the team’s quality of play, and that there was much they could have done better.
“It honestly was not our greatest game,” said Hardie. “The score does not really reflect how well we played. We did a lot better in the second half, so we turned it around. We came out slow and we addressed the mistake at halftime and we corrected that for the second half.”
As Hardie expressed, the second half of the game against Trent was far more noteworthy than the first, with the first two goals of the half (by defender Gillian Baggott and striker Tessa Dimitrakopoulos) scored within the first four minutes.
Midfielder Sheniz Eryuzlu scored with 10 minutes remaining in the second half, while Baggott, Dimitrakopoulos, and Lily Wong all scored within the final three minutes of the game.
“I wasn’t particularly pleased with the play,” said Johnson. “I thought we made mental errors. Trent showed us a couple things, and it’s good we got to see them, but there were situations that developed that I think if we were in a more important game, if we were against a more difficult opponent, our lack of decisions could have hurt us. It’s good that we’ve seen them, and gotten the chance to address them, but mentally I think we were a little unfocused.”
Johnson explained that the situation was very different in Friday’s game against Carleton.
“I was really pleased with our first half against Carleton,” he said. “I think we came out really strong, we were prepared to play good soccer right from the beginning, and the fact that we were up four-nothing against a better quality opponent than Trent, I think speaks to how the team was prepared to come into it and play.”
Hardie, who is in her final season, said she hopes and believes the team can make it to the end.
“We’re in a better position than we were at this time last year, so I’m excited about that,” she said. “It’s also my last year, so I’m hoping that this is the year that we’re going to go all the way.”
The Gee-Gees will play their final game of the regular season against the Queen’s University Gaels at the Matt Anthony Field on Oct. 19 at 6 p.m.
