VANCOUVER - After a brilliant regular season in which they set a Canada West record for fewest goals conceded and lost just one game, the 2011 UBC Thunderbirds found themselves shorthanded due to injury and in tough against a feisty Alberta squad in the Canada West semifinals.
The 'Birds pushed things past regulation and extra time, but the Pandas got the best of them in the penalty shootout, bringing UBC's stellar season to a premature end.
“At that stage of the season we were unlucky to have a significant injury bug going into that game losing a number of key players. Ironically we had a really strong game and created a lot of big chances, but we didnt take them so it was a bit disappointing to see the season end that way,” said UBC head coach Mark Rogers.
The T-Birds have a long road ahead to get back to where they left off last year, but they have many of the key pieces of the puzzle still intact and are well-positioned to make that journey.
Most of the record-setting defensive unit is returning. Canada West All-Star
Alisha Penev is coming off two great seasons to start her CIS career and will be a big part of the effort on the backline in 2012.
“It's hard to look past Alisha. She's basically played every minute for us so far and has been absolutely extraordinary.”
Fourth-year
Jordan Kitagawa will also be back to help on defence, with second-years Sydney Morrisson and
Katherine Caverly both looking strong in training and preseason in contention for the remaining share of the defensive workload.
Freshman recruits
Madison Guy and
Alyssa Ciona have both played significant minutes at centre back in the preseason and should provide solid depth for the UBC back line.
Notably absent from the list is
Diane Rizzardo, who graduated from the fullback ranks after last season, along with standout midfielders
Lisa Furutani and
Natalie Hirayama.
“All three were key role models on the team, but just like every university program, you lose your seniors and have to build from the bottom,” said Rogers. “We will be a very young team this year. A big chunk of our team is first and second year players, and i see it as a very good opportunity for those players to get significant minutes early in their careers. There will be steep learning curves but its a good opportunity to get some minutes and develop those young players more quickly which will pay dividends when they are seniors.”
With two big losses at midfield, Rogers says competition for the starting jobs there is wide open.
Rachel Ramsden and
Christina Donnelly, both seniors, are the only T-Birds with much CIS experience at midfield. Second-years
Taylor Shannik and
Krista Whittaker will both be in the mix, as will freshman
Tamara Roughead and Kym Van Duynhoven.
Between the pipes, it's hard to believe that goalkeeper
Alyssa Williamson will be entering just her second year, already with eight clean sheets to her name.
“She had a very good season and we broke a bunch of defensive records. I can't imagine anyone has had a better rookie goalkeeper season than that, and she can thank her back four in front of her as well,” Rogers said of Williamson.
Up front, the T-Birds have three extremely dangerous seniors that have been giving opposing defenders fits for three seasons already.
Janine Frazao is coming off her best year yet, running away with the conference scoring title thanks to a 16-goal campaign that earned her a first-team All-Canadian bid.
Rachael Sawer was limited in 2011 due to a nagging calf injury but still managed five goals, and should be healthy and ready for big things in 2012.
“Rachael is avery good player who spent most of last year injured and didn't give us the minutes she would have liked. She's going to give us a lot more minutes this year and i know she's really motivated to do so,” said Rogers.
Taryn Lim, who Rogers calls “the unsung hero” of the group, has scored a few big goals for the T-Birds but really proves her value by doing the dirty work to set up chances and create space for her teammates.
Behind those three seniors, the T-Birds have a trio of freshmen in
Nicole Sydor,
Shayla Chorney and
Samantha Drescher to provide depth and learn the CIS game playing behind some of the best in the business.
The T-Birds went 5-2 in the preseason and are beginning conference play ranked No. 8 in the CIS. They start the regular season this weekend at home with games on Friday and Saturday at 5 p.m. against Calgary and Lethbridge. Both games will be played on David Sidoo Field at Thunderbird Stadium.
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