“We’re a little bit of a younger team but a bit more cohesive in terms of our age — we don’t have a lot of fifth-years and we don’t have a lot of first-years.”
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Canada West coaches have taken notice.
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They’ve ranked the University of Saskatchewan Huskies at No. 5 in their pre-season poll for Canada West women’s soccer.
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“Which, to my knowledge, has been the highest we’ve ever ranked,” said U of S head coach Jerson Barandica-Hamilton, whose Huskies open Canada West conference play Friday night at home against the University of Winnipeg.
“I think the program has definitely grown in its reputation with all the coaches. Our first goal is to finish in the top two in our (Prairie) division to host a quarter-final playoff. From there, the bare minimum we’re hoping to achieve is to get to the (Canada West) final four and get in a position to try and make nationals.”
Last year, Saskatchewan reached the Final Four and placed fourth.
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The Huskies said goodbye to five players in their final year of eligibility — Maya Gabruch, Taneil Gay, Jadyn Steinhauer, Kalli Cowles and Hannah Zdunich-Costa — plus another handful of players who, noted Barandica-Hamilton, “graduated from an academic standpoint and decided to move on with life, which was completely understandable.”
Among those moving on are McKenna Olson, Erika Whyte and Haley Mercier.
“We had about 10 not return from last year’s roster,” noted Barandica-Hamilton.
“We’re a little bit of a younger team but a bit more cohesive in terms of our age — we don’t have a lot of fifth-years and we don’t have a lot of first-years.
“We have a lot of second-, third- and fourth-year players — who, historically, that’s usually (what) the teams that win have a lot of — so we’re excited to see what they can bring to the table. “
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The Huskie women saw a lot of action in the pre-season with seven exhibition matches, finishing with a 2-3-2 record.
“Seven games were a lot, but it was needed,” stressed Barandica-Hamilton. “We’re a bit of a younger team. Last year, only playing in the division that we did (against Manitoba and Saskatchewan-based teams), we really wanted to be giving different opportunities for our players.
“For us, it was really important to get out of Saskatoon and just play different competition that we know will just help us grow.”
The Huskies closed out the pre-season with a draw and loss against the University of Alberta Pandas.
“It was a good weekend,” said Barandica-Hamilton. “Pre-season for us was more about performances and minutes. Overall, it was really good, really good.”
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KEY RETURNS
Midfielder Payton Izsak leads the way. The Prince Albert native had three goals and five assists for eight points last season.
“Payton is obviously going to be a really important player for us, going into her fourth year and has been playing really, really well,” said Barandica-Hamilton.
“Another player I think is going to grow in her leadership is Jade Houmphanh, who is going into her third year. Same thing. She has had a really good training camp.”
Two strikers — Alyssa D’agnone from Lethbridge, Alta., and rookie Cheyenne Lehmann, from Langdon, Alta. — have impressed in training camp.
“They look hungry,” said Barandica-Hamilton.
“You’ll love Cheyenne. She looks really similar to a Jenelle Zapski, the same type of player. You’ll pick her out quite easily.”
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NEWCOMERS TO WATCH
Other newcomers to watch for include Regina Cougars transfer Amou Madol and Nadia Kalyar.
“(Madol is) technically going into her third year of eligibility… she’s a kid we tried to recruit but she wanted to stay home. Now she’s moved to the U of S for academic reasons (College of Pharmacy) so we’re really happy to have her in the fold,” said Barandica-Hamilton.
Kalyar, a first-year goalkeeper, has “shown a lot of growth in training camp,” he added.
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2021 was the year of the five fifth-years
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Huskies reach Canada West Final Four
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