This past weekend, Surrey’s Newton Athletic Park hosted a successful girls’ edition of the 2012 Whitecaps FC College Showcase, which for the first time incorporated matches from the EA SPORTS BC Soccer Premier League, as well as matches from the Whitecaps FC U-18 Girls Elite team.
“Through our partnership with BC Soccer and the EA SPORTS BCSPL, we were able to deliver the best Whitecaps FC College Showcase to date,” said Dan Lenarduzzi, Whitecaps FC director of soccer development. “We’d like to thank everyone who took part this year and we look forward to continuing to grow this event for years to come.”
Saturday saw eight EA SPORTS BC Soccer Premier League matches take place before each team returned to action throughout the weekend. Full results can be found HERE.
In Saturday’s feature match, the Whitecaps FC Girls Elite team took a 6-3 win against University of the Fraser Valley. Head coach Jesse Symons’ squad then played a pair of matches on Sunday (see full match reports below).
WHITECAPS FC GIRLS ELITE 0 – 1 WHITECAPS FC ALUMNI
A large group of onlookers watched the ‘Caps U-18 Girls Elite squad take on a team comprised of Whitecaps FC U-18 graduates from 2008-2011.
Former U-18 ‘Caps striker and current Canadian women’s national team player Chelsea Buckland scored the lone goal of the match on 25 minutes, hitting a left footed free kick from 25-yards out around the wall and into the bottom right corner to give the alumni team the 1-0 win.
"It was fantastic to see so many U-18 alumni from the past four years come and play,” said Jesse Symons, Whitecaps FC Girls Elite and women’s team head coach. “These players have had exceptional university careers. It was a very good opportunity for the current U-18 players to compete and interact with the older players.”
WHITECAPS FC GIRLS ELITE 6 – 0 FORT COLLINS SC
The ‘Caps came out for their second match of the day full of energy.
The first goal came on 20 minutes as the ‘Caps had good combination play through midfield to spring Elise Wyatt in for her first tally of the match. Eight minutes later it was Wyatt again - this time on a perfect diagonal pass from Aman Shergill splitting the Fort Collins backline.
With confidence going into half time the Whitecaps kept the intensity high. Wyatt was able to score two more goals to bring her total to four on the day and six total on the weekend. Other goals came from Sam Ricker from a Sam Dion corner, tapping it in at the back post, and later a scramble in front of the goal saw Jasmine Mander react quickly to make it 6-0.
"We got stronger and more confident in the attacking third as the match went on," said Symons.
“The players were very focused and committed to playing at a fast speed going forward.”
The Girls Elite squad now prepare to play at the end of the month with matches against University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, and Trinity Western University.
For more information on the Whitecaps FC Girls Elite program, visit http://club.whitecapsfc.com/girlselite/.
