At the beginning of the season, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who could predict that the SFU women’s soccer team would have the season that they did. After all, the team was coming off of four straight seasons where they had finished bottom of the GNAC conference. But this season, the team defied expectations, finishing in fifth place — their best performance in four years.
“As a whole, I think it was a positive season,” said Head Coach Annie Hamel. “It’s a good step forward for us. We cut our losses by ten games, so you can’t really [complain]. We were 2–16 last year, and now we’re 7–6–2.
“I think it was positive on a lot of fronts,” she continued. “I think we were young and [inexperienced]. But [the] experience moving forward [is huge]. It will be a lot better going forward, I think.”
Perhaps the brightest spot of the season was the play of the freshman, especially Christina Dickson. Her seven goals led the team in scoring, and she was unanimously selected as the GNAC freshman of the year.
“I think Christina had a very strong start to the season,” remarked Hamel. “But the season that she had, for her to get Freshman of the Year, that’s something that’s never been done in the program since they joined the NCAA. That’s an incredible accomplishment, and what’s even [better] about it is that she was unanimously voted [in], so all the coaches voted her as number one. They unanimously thought that she was the best freshman in the GNAC.
“It’s a good step for our program, it’s incredible for her, and it just shows which direction this program is going.”
The team nearly finished fourth, a spot which would have earned them a chance to compete in the GNAC championships here at SFU. However, they lost the final game of the season in overtime, leaving them fifth and on the outside looking in. However, coach Hamel is sure that the experience will make the team more motivated heading into next season.
“I think the way this season ended is actually going to be [its] biggest positive [. . .] I think it’s something the kids will remember for a long time. They’ll have a chip on their shoulder, and I think they’ll really want to train hard and understand what they’re working toward,” Hamel said.
“I’ve already had a bunch of them tell me ‘I can’t wait for next season.’ And that’s because it ended in such a bad way that you just want to get back out there and do better and fix it and start again, and prove yourself. They know that wasn’t our best performance and they know we could have done better.”
Hamel has already addressed where this team needs to improve heading into next season. “Everywhere,” she responded. “We’re not where we need to be right now [. . .] I’m still looking for the best players around. We have our commitments for 2016, and I think we’re definitely addressing our needs.”
Hamel’s side defied expectations this season. Now the trick is to sustain the success, and further the standings next season.
