By Russ Dyck
The Dinos women’s soccer team took a trip to the West Coast this past weekend to finish off their 2003 season. The coast is usually known for warmer weather, trees and a history of good soccer sides, but the Dinos showed they came to compete.
The women soccersaurs first traveled to Victoria Thu., Oct. 23 to play the University of Victoria Vikes. The game was offensively strong for both sides but neither team caught a break until the bitter end. The Vikes managed to find the back of the net from 40 yards out with only seven minutes remaining.
The women soccersaurs didn’t like being left behind, staying there for less than a minute, when Stephanie Hoogveld put one past the Vikes keeper during a scramble in front of the net. The game ended in a 1-1 draw.
“We worked really hard throughout the game and it was great to see us get that goal so quickly after the Vikes scored,” said Head Coach Robin Slot.
After a day of rest on Friday, the women’s team took on the Trinity Western University Spartans Saturday but could not get a single break the entire game. Trinity, on the other hand, managed a solitary goal and that’s all they needed to pull off a 1-0 win.
“We were unlucky against Trinity,” Slot recalled. “We just broke down defensively on their one goal and they took advantage of it. The last 25 minutes of the game we played in their end, but couldn’t get a goal.”
Playing the second-best team in Canada isn’t the way you want to finish a season, but that’s the way the draw goes sometimes. The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds hosted the Dinos on Sunday to a game of soccer in the fog. This proved to be very trying for Slot, since he could not tell who was who across the field.
“The Thunderbirds played a very strong game, scoring just before half-time, then again in the second half to finish the women soccersaurs’ season with a 2-0 loss.
“UBC was the stronger team and they deserved to win,” said Slot. “We were out-matched but still hung in there.”
All in all, the Dinos had a good year for such a young team and they are only going to get better in years to come. Maybe, just maybe, they can become Canada West champions next season.