May 20, 2011

OTTAWA (CIS) – Canadian Interuniversity Sport announced Friday the 20 student-athletes who will represent Canada in women’s soccer at the 26th Summer Universiade in August in Shenzhen, China.

The all-CIS roster is dominated by the Canada West conference and the Trinity Western Spartans, who were crowned CIS champions twice in the last three years. Eleven Canada West standouts will make the trip to China including four TWU all-stars.

Six players returns from the last world university games in 2009 in Belgrade, Serbia, where Canada advanced out of pool play before finishing seventh out of 16 countries.

“I feel like we have a good, balanced team that is a good representation of the players we have in CIS,” says Trinity Western’s Graham Roxburgh, who was announced as Team Canada head coach last May. “We looked for players who could adapt to the next level because even though it is university students, it is a completely different level. Speed of play, the ability to play faster, the ability to be more athletic, to be more aggressive and physical and yet still have a soccer maturity that will allow them to play in a much more competitive environment.”
 
“We weren’t necessarily just looking for the best and most talented players but for the players we thought would be parts of a puzzle that would complete a picture,” adds Roxburgh, who was also at the helm of the 2009 Canadian squad.

Defending the Canadian net in Shenzhen will be goalkeepers Rachel Bedek, a Carleton University student from St. Thomas, Ont., and Cynthia Leblanc, a Granby, Que., native who attends the University of Ottawa.  

The backfield is comprised of uOttawa's Gillian Baggott of Ottawa, UVic’s Shayla Behrens  of Victoria, UBC’s Jessica Briker of Kelowna, B.C., UQAM’s Justine Labrecque of Quebec City, Queen’s Brienna Shaw of Vancouver, as well as Alberta’s Keshia Wallin St. Albert, Alta.

The seven midfielders are the Trinity Western duo of Natalie Boyd of Surrey, B.C., and Melissa Mobilio of Coquitlam, Queen's Riley Filion of Alexandria, Ont., Saskatchewan’s Daniela Fuenzalida of Saskatoon, Sherbrooke’s Andréanne Gagné of St-Hyacinthe, Que., Wilfrid Laurier’s Alyssa Lagonia of Kitchener, Ont., and Alberta’s Carleigh Miller of St. Albert.

Up front, UBC’s Janine Frazao of Port Moody, B.C., Montreal’s Véronique Laverdière of Montreal, Calgary’s Tessa Miller of Calgary, and Trinity Western teammates Daniela Gerig of Langley, B.C., and Nikki Wright of Cloverdale, B.C., are the strikers who hope to fill the opposition’s net.

Briker, Shaw, Wallin, Gagné, Laverdière and Wright are all veterans from the 2009 Games. Mobilio was also selected two years ago but missed the competition due to an injury.

Laverdière is the reigning CIS player of the year, while Shaw led Queen’s to the CIS national title last fall alongside Riley Filion.

In Shenzhen, Canada will compete in the preliminary round in Pool A against tournament host China, reigning bronze medalist Great Britain, as well as Taiwan. A total of 12 countries are entered in the tourney.

The defending Universiade champion is South Korea, which defeated Japan in the 2009 gold-medal final.

“We’re up against it because I feel in our pool we have two of what I would consider some of the strongest teams in the tournament in China and Great Britain. I don’t know much about Taiwan but I know it will be an incredibly competitive group and we’re going to have to figure out a way to take points off of each team,” says Roxburgh, who led his team to a pair of wins over China in 2009 including a 2-1 victory in the preliminary round and a 1-0 shutout (5-4 in PK) in the seventh-place match. 

Women’s soccer made its Universiade debut as a demonstration sport at the 1993 Buffalo Games when the women’s soccer tournament was held in Hamilton. The sport became an official Universiade discipline in 2001 in Beijing, China.

Canada has finished fifth on two occasions, first in Buffalo when six teams competed in the tourney and then in Izmir, Turkey, in 2005, when 12 countries participated in the event.

Rounding out the team’s support staff for the 2011 Games are team leader Jorge Sanchez from Concordia University, assistant coach Eva Havaris from Toronto, goalie coach and video analyst Neil Turner from Trinity Western and athletic therapist Neena Gupta.

Sanchez served in the same role in Serbia.

The team will hold a final training camp including three exhibition games in Vancouver from July 30 to August 5 before departing for China.

TEAM CANADA ROSTER 
 
Position  Name   University  Hometown 

Goalkeeper Rachel Bedek  Carleton  St. Thomas, Ont.
Goalkeeper Cynthia Leblanc Ottawa Granby, Que.
Defender Gillian Baggott Ottawa Ottawa, Ont.
Defender Shayla Behrens  Victoria  Victoria, B.C.
Defender Jessica Briker  UBC   Kelowna, B.C.
Defender Justine Labrecque UQAM   Quebec City, Que.
Defender Brienna Shaw  Queen’s  Vancouver, B.C.  
Defender Keshia Wallin  Alberta   St. Albert, Alta.
Midfield Natalie Boyd  Trinity Western  Surrey, B.C.
Midfield Riley Filion Queen's Alexandria, Ont.
Midfield Daniela Fuenzalida Saskatchewan  Saskatoon, Sask.
Midfield Andréanne Gagné Sherbrooke  St-Hyacinthe, Que.
Midfield Alyssa Lagonia  Wilfrid Laurier  Kitchener, Ont.
Midfield Carleigh Miller  Alberta   St. Albert, Alta.
Midfield Melissa Mobilio Trinity Western  Coquitlam, B.C.
Striker  Janine Frazao  UBC   Port Moody, B.C.
Striker  Daniela Gerig  Trinity Western  Langley, B.C.
Striker  Véronique Laverdière Montreal  Montreal, Que.
Striker  Tessa Miller  Calgary   Calgary, Alta.
Striker  Nikki Wright  Trinity Western  Cloverdale, B.C.

Originally selected but out with injuries:

Goalkeeper Kristen Funk  Trinity Western  Calgary, Alta.
Defender Jilian Dietrich Trinity Western Calgary, Alta.
Defender Kristen Santema Trinity Western  Coquitlam, B.C.
Midfield Jaclyn Sawicki  Victoria  Coquitlam, B.C.
Striker  Kendra Flock  Victoria  Calgary, Alta.

STAFF        

Position   Name   University  

Head coach  Graham Roxburgh Trinity Western  
Assistant coach  Eva Havaris  Toronto   
Goalie coach / video Neil Turner  Trinity Western
Team leader   Jorge Sanchez  Concordia  
Athletic therapist Neena Gupta  Toronto/McGill

UNIVERSIADE POOLS:
 
The Universiade women’s soccer tournament will run from August 11-21. The detailed schedule will be announced at a later date.
 
Pool A: China, Great Britain, CANADA, Taiwan
Pool B: South Korea, Russia, Mexico, South Africa
Pool C: Japan, France, Brazil, Estonia

CANADA’S RESULTS IN WOMEN’S SOCCER AT THE UNIVERSIADE:
 
2009 (Belgrade, Serbia): 7th / 16 teams
2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): 10th / 16
2005 (Izmir, Turkey): 5th / 12
2003 (Daegu, South Korea): 10th / 11
2001 (Beijing, China): 11th / 12
1993 (Buffalo, USA): 5th / 6

-CIS-