Jobs open on the Horns
The jobs are up for grabs as the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s soccer team heads into the Canada West season.
With the kickoff of the season a little under a month away, the 2019 edition of the Horns boasts roughly as many returnees as it does promising first-year prospects.
“After last year’s large incoming class we again have another large incoming class,” said Pronghorns head coach Ilsa Wong. “So we are continuing to evolve since Jack (Reddy, soccer technical coach) and I took over. We have 11 first-year players coming in. We had three graduations from last year with Erica (Augsten), Aislinn (Williston) and Lindsay (Amatto) and those were key positions, but we also knew that technically we needed to be a little bit stronger if we want to keep pace with the other teams. We think we brought in some pretty solid players as first-year players and many of them are probably going to see significant minutes this year. So that’s promising, and the returning players are meshing well.”
Roughly 15 players return from last year’s team.
“It depends how many of those older and wiser players are going to see themselves contributing because we do believe that some of those first years are technically stronger than some of the returners. So it’ll be an issue of how they mesh as a unit. Expectations are higher.”
As she heads into her fourth year with the Pronghorns, Raeleen Vanden Dungen welcomes that push from the first years.
“It helps us become better when you’re pushing your teammates, you’re helping the team to be better. Everybody obviously wants to start,” said Vanden Dungen, who hails from down the road in Vauxhall.
Following a 3-1 exhibition
win over the Lethbridge College Kodiaks Thursday night at the University of Lethbridge Stadium, the Pronghorns were back on their home field for a scrimmage against the Calgary Blizzard.
Though she’s currently on the sidelines with a foot injury, Vanden Dungen was glad to get some games in.
“It’s definitely exciting. There is a lot of young talent. So it’s good to see and it’s good to see the team gelling. It’s nice to play because in practice I feel like you think you know what’s going to happen but in a game it’s always different. So it’s nice to get these early games in to get the jitters out as well.”
Starting this season, the Canada West has dropped the number of teams making the playoffs from six to five.
“That puts a little bit more pressure on us to get some points, especially some of those games where I know we should’ve won last year,” said Wong. “We had something like six one-goal games last year. So that’s our focus this year. We’ve got Raeleen up front for the whole year. Hopefully she can stay healthy and that will be a positive thing for us.”
Hailey Waterhouse also returns for her second year.
“She has really come back in good shape and ready to go,” said Wong. “I think will be a bit better in the front and Jesse Dueck, who graduated two years ago, has come back to play her fifth year. So we’re really excited to see how we can do, especially down the middle of the pitch where we know we struggled a bit last year.”
Vanden Dungen was excited for her new position on the Horns this year and ideally where it will lead.
“I’m definitely hoping to make the playoffs for sure,” she said. I’ve been excited to play forward. So it’s exciting to get that chance to score some goals. I hope I can be a strong leader.”
In Thursday night’s win over the Kodiaks, newcomer Claire Linder scored twice for the Pronghorns, while Dueck added the other goal.
The Horns hit the road to Calgary Monday to take on the Calgary Dinos and are back home Thursday when the Medicine Hat Rattlers of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference pay a visit to the U of L Stadium at 5 p.m.
The Pronghorns open the Canada West season Sept. 7 and 8 in Edmonton as they face the Alberta Pandas and the MacEwan Griffins, respectively.
Their home-opener is the following weekend when they host the Victoria Vikes Sept. 14 at noon and the UBC Thunderbirds Sept. 15, also at noon.
The Pronghorns men’s soccer team is back home Monday after their Montana trek as they host the Kodiaks men’s team at 7 p.m. at the U of L Stadium.
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