WOMEN’S SOCCER
The Goal is nationals for W
Head Coach Vanessa Martinez Lagunas
The 2017 soccer season should be one for the ages for the Bison women’s soccer team. If you don’t believe it, ask Head Coach, Vanessa Martinez Lagunas… or team captain, Amanda Wong… or fifth year forward Alyssa Daley… or second year star defenceman Shaylyn Dyck. By Carter Brooks Photos by Jeff Miller
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UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA BISONS | 2017-18 SEASON
e could go on. But maybe at this point you’re starting to get it; 2017 will be a huge historic season for soccer at the University of Manitoba. The mumps epidemic hit the Bisons at the worst possible time in the 2016 season – the week of the first round of conference playoffs when they were paired up against the number one ranked Calgary Dinos. Despite all hurdles, the underdog Bisons defeated the Calgary squad on the road, holding them to a clean sheet. This qualified the University of Manitoba for the Canada West Select Six Tournament for second time and first since 2008 in the program’s history. Pairing the success of 2016-17 with the fact that coach Martinez Lagunas only lost two fifth year players from last season and is has a strong recruiting class, things look to be heading in the right direction for the only University of Manitoba soccer team. Not only will the festivities surround the women’s soccer program at the university, but the excitement will extend even deeper to the first-ever U SPORTS Women’s Soccer National Championship held in Winnipeg. This is also the first time in over 30 years of existence that the tournament will be played in the prairies. The local Manitoban community will be able to watch the best female university soccer players and teams competing for the national title. Both the players and coaches alike know that hosting this prestigious event will surely provide a lot of scrutiny, but are also quick to point out that it will serve as extra motivation for the upcoming season. “The U SPORTS women’s soccer national championship has never come to Winnipeg, so a big part of it will be just to see where we stand against some of the other teams in the country,” said Bison’ captain and 2016
The U SPORTS women’s soccer national championship has never come to Winnipeg, so a big part of it will be just to see where we stand against some of the other teams in the country - Amanda Wong, Captain, Manitoba Bison Women’s Soccer Canada West Second Team All-Star, Amanda Wong. “We only compete against teams in Western Canada, so we kind of know where we are in relation to them – but we have never played teams from Ontario, Quebec or the Atlantic region. We really want to be able to compete; since we get an automatic bye into the tournament, we don’t want to be essentially forfeited in, but we want to show that we deserve to be there.” Martinez Lagunas – now in her fifth season on the sidelines – also stressed the significance that the National Championship will bring to Canada’s prairies. “Since I took over the program, our vision has been to become one of the best university women’s soccer programs in Canada,” said Martinez Lagunas. “In order to do that, you need to compete against the best teams; bringing in the National Championship will give our team –