Pandas pick up a milestone victory
Women’s soccer team chasing another conference title as well as a national title
Liz Jepsen deserves credit for making the University of Alberta Pandas soccer team one of the premier women’s programs in the country.
Yet the 14-year head coach is quick to deflect praise after a milestone accomplishment, winning her 150th game last weekend in a victory against the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns.
The Pandas opened their 2018 Canada West season on the road with an impressive 2-1 win against the University of Calgary and then blanked Lethbridge 3-0.
The Pandas host the Thompson Rivers WolfPack Saturday (noon) at Foote Field, and then take on the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat on Sunday.
“I am really honoured to have that happen,” Jepsen said. “Really, it’s the hard work of so many people that have been around. I’m in a good place and very fortunate to have so many great players to work with across the years, and that they commit themselves to being champions and being the best players they can be.
“Certainly it could not have been done without that buy-in and commitment from the players and also a large number of staff throughout the years who have come in and helped support both our players and our program. It’s really a team effort for sure.”
During her tenure with the Pandas, Jepsen has amassed a 106-45-29 conference record and 150-67-33 overall record. She has led the Pandas to one Canada West Championship and three national tournament appearances.
This season, the Pandas are shooting for another conference title and eyeing their first national title. The Pandas hope the thrilling come-from-behind win against Calgary sets the tone for the season.
“What I thought was most impressive was just the fight the girls had in the second half against Calgary,” Jepsen said. “Calgary is a classy team with some skillful and dangerous athletes across the field. They were able to capitalize on us in the 65th minute, and the fight we had made a huge difference in the fact we were able to come back and come away with the gamewinning goal in the last minute. It’s something that’s indicative of the girls’ spirit and attitude and that willingness to fight and to persevere and be resilient after having a goal scored against us.”
This season, the Pandas have a strong core of fourth- and fifthyear players with a dynamic group of rookies. Last weekend, they were led by veteran midfielders Morgan Corbett and Brenna Martello, who combined to score four of the five goals.
“They’re amazing players to work with. I would rate them up with two of the best Pandas that I’ve ever worked with,” Jepsen said. “More than just being great players on the field, they are great leaders
It’s really hard to win championships, and there will be setbacks, and you have to have them and ... move forward.
and are leaders who are there to make their teammates better. Being 90-minute players, who can dig deep and give you a bit more, they are players who rise to the occasion in the hard moments.”
The Pandas are motivated this season by a heartbreaking playoff loss to the MacEwan Griffins last year, where they conceded the winning goal deep into injury time.
“My biggest takeaway from that is that there will be setbacks along the road to a championship,” Jepsen said. “It’s really hard to win championships and there will be setbacks, and you have to have them and you have to move forward.
“Losing in the dying moments of a game that you fought really hard and have done the work for is devastating in the moment,” she said, noting that the important part is how they bounce back. “It has really set the pace for never wanting to be in that position again.”
“We’re doing all the work we can to look at it simply as a setback,” she said, adding it’s important to “know how much more you have to do to make it all the way.”