The Gee-Gees have been the better team so far, and the results are there
The Gee-Gees women’s soccer team played their third game of the season on Sept. 1 against the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, taking home the win in a decisive 1–0 victory five days after losing a 1–0 decision to the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.
After a delayed start due to a miscommunication between the league and the referees, the Gee-Gees came out strong offensively with 13 shots against the opposing team. With the score still tied 0–0, the Gees were given magnificent chances but were turned away by the strong play of the Blues’ keeper Vanna Staggolis.
In the 20th minute, third-year midfielder Katherine Bearne capitalized on a free kick opportunity, which would eventually be the deciding factor. Dedicated team ethic helped the Gee-Gees hold on to the slim lead throughout the remainder of the game.
“It felt good to score today,” said Bearne. “And it’s great to be out on the field with all my teammates after we had a good training camp and I got to know all of the girls. I think we’re starting to mesh as a team now.”
In just three games this season, the Gee-Gees have outshot the opposing teams 52–22, and have outscored their opponents by a total of three goals. The majority of their opportunities have come in the first half of play, and it was no different against the Blues.
“I thought we started really, really well,” said head coach Steve Johnson. “The team looked they were ready to go right from the whistle, and I thought we put pressure on immediately. I was really happy with (the Gee-Gees’) first half. We had a lot of good territory and the passing looked fantastic and defensively we were good.”
The Varsity Blues pushed forward in the second half of the game, getting some great opportunities off a couple of Gee-Gees mistakes. However, the Gees played a solid shut-down game to come out with the victory. Johnson explained that the first half demonstrated they are learning to play faster, but need to learn how to sustain themselves better throughout the entire 90 minutes of play.
“I think a lot of the things we did were right,” he said. “We were fairly safe. We tried to get the ball forward and onto the wings. It’s just that we’ve got to make sure that we maintain our shape and don’t drop too many players too far back where can’t establish ourselves with the ball in position to play forward.”
On Saturday, Sept. 2, the Gee-Gees women’s soccer team came out with a dominating 6–0 performance against the Ryerson Rams in their last home game before heading out on a seven-game road trip.
With their win against Ryerson, they have improved their record to 3–1–0 this season and have put themselves on top of the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East division. Before Saturday, Ottawa had struggled to keep up the intensity for the full 90 minutes, but they put on a second-half clinic against Ryerson scoring four goals.
Third-year midfielder Katherine Bearne opened up the scoring in the 11th minute and closed off the scoring in the 70th minute. Her two tallies this game bring her total to three on the season.
The Gees have shown a lot of promise early in the season, and should continue to get better as their young core continues to gain experience.
The Gee-Gees played the last home game of a four-game homestand on Sept. 2 against Ryerson University before going on a seven-game road trip. They won’t return to Matt Anthony Field until Oct. 7 against the Queen’s University Gaels.
