The Varsity Blues women’s soccer team beat the Carleton Ravens Sunday to make up for their opening-day defeat to the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, and record their first points of the season.
The 2–0 victory was the result of a much-improved attacking performance by the Blues, who fell to a single goal against the Gee-Gees on Saturday while registering only a single shot.
“We came here with a purpose today, we wanted to improve on yesterday’s performance,” said head coach Anthony Capotosto, who took over both the men’s and women’s programs on a full-time basis this summer. “We performed quite well [against the Gee-Gees], [but] we were a bit lacking in the attacking third… and we wanted to get more shots off in today’s game,” he added.
Defender and captain Nav Deol said that the team “made a goal in the changing room to get at least five shots in the first half and we exceeded that.”
Indeed, Sunday was a very different performance to the day before. The Blues scored within the opening minute, with striker Laura Machado running through the Raven’s defense to score right after the kick-off.
Keeping up the pressure on the Ravens, the Blues had a number of attacking moves and shots in the minutes after the goal. Striker Aisha Lewis was particularly impressive on the left flank, while fellow forward Hattie Daumann was frequently offside, showing the Blues’ attacking intent.
Daumann’s frequent forays forward paid off in the eighteenth minute, as she bundled in a cross from Lewis to make the scoreline read 2–0 to the Blues.
Despite the spirited attempt made by the Raven’s players in the second half, the Blues held on to their lead to record a two-goal victory. Ravens substitute Diane Jodoin forced Blues goalkeeper Monica Maher into a one-handed save in the 85th minute. Maher was called on again in the closing minute of the game to prevent another Raven’s sub, Kwanzaa Robest-Prescod, from scoring when through on goal.
“Carleton was pressuring but we made it a bit more difficult for ourselves,” Deol said. “We could have tried playing the easier ball, played simple and made runs off the ball.”
The Blues’ 1–1 opening weekend is particularly impressive when you consider that the women’s soccer program has undergone major changes over the summer. The team lost several starters from last year’s team, including top-scorer Kate Crowley.
Rookie midfielder Olivia Gonsalves, who has started both of the Blues matches, sees the youth factor as an advantage, though. “It’s exciting [to be part of a young team] because then you know that you’re going to be with the team for a while; it’s going to be a growing team,” she said.
Coach Capotosto is certainly enthusiastic about the prospects. “We’re looking to build the women’s program,” he said. “Our mandate is to make it one of the pre-eminent programs in Canada, and be one of the top contenders in CIS.” Based on this weekend’s evidence, the Blues are already on the way.
