California girl adding heat to UNBC offence
Given a choice between the skyscrapers of New York City and the mountains and natural beauty of Prince George, Californian Sofia Jones decided to come north of the border to British Columbia to further her soccer career and her studies in math.
For that, the UNBC Timberwolves are eternally grateful.
The 19-year-old from Albany, Calif., carved out a role with the T-wolves, giving the U Sports Canada West conference team an element of speed, tenacity and deadly scoring touch that was sorely needed.
“I was looking to go to somewhere far away and was looking at a school in New York (Queens College) and the school here and I just liked here better, I guess,” said Jones. “I just did a bunch of research on Google. I read a couple articles about what the school offers and everyone was super-positive and I found out the campus is really nice. The students really seemed to like it here and overall it seemed like a place where people were happy.
“It’s been good so far.” Except for the weather. The forest fires in August that choked the skies with smoke gave way to the fifth coldest September on record for Prince George. For a California girl used to room temperature outside all year round, that’s taken some getting used to.
“That was definitely the coldest weather,” Jones said. “In San Francisco it doesn’t get very cold at all, ever, and I know it’s going to get a lot colder here. I came up here to see something else. I’ve never lived through a (Canadian) winter. I’m really excited to go sledding and going cross-country skiing would be really cool.”
Jones has thrived in her new environment, emerging as the Twolves’ second-leading scorer with three goals and two assists, tied for 14th in the conference. Her work ethic and desire to become a better player by putting in the time on the practice field has worn off on her teammates and that has the T-wolves squad within striking range of a playoff spot – a bit of a surprise for a young team in rebuilding mode.
Although they have just a single victory, they’ve lost just four of their eight games and their three ties have left them one point behind the UBC Okanagan Heat for the sixth and final playoff spot in the Pacific Division.
Jones competed in soccer and track and field at her high school in Albany, just across the bay from San Francisco, where she specialized in the 400-metre run and long jump for a couple years before moving on to play soccer for the City College of San Francisco Rams.
Last year, in her first season at the junior college level, she was moved up to striker, having grown up as a fullback, and became a real sniper with the Rams. In 20 games, Jones scored 17 goals and added eight assists and led the Rams to a 15-3-2 season. That gave her plenty of highlights to combine in a video package she sent earlier this year to T-wolves head coach Neil Sedgwick.
“She does some great stuff on the field, it’s off the field that we really love what Sofia brings,” said Sedgwick. “She absolutely loves the game so she’s in here all the time at our (Northern Sport Centre) training centre. She’s the first one to training and encouraging the other girls to get out and practice on their own or with her. She just brings a real focus on development to the program because she wants to get better all the time.
“She does the work and she’s able to step across the front of players with the ball because of her pace. She’s very focused on the team’s efforts and she’s not just a striker who stands up front, she’s one that works both ways. It’s a real pleasure having her here.”
Jones and UNBC forward Paige Payne have shown great chemistry working together on the field which has helped turn Payne into a regular point producer. She leads the team with five goals and seven points in eight games.
“They’re both exciting, kind of soccer junkies,” said Sedgwick. “They watch the game and they’re able to move off of one another, which is key because they have similar movements and understanding from up above what the game looks like. It’s really nice to watch them combine and feed off one another.”
With 13 goals in eight games, the T-wolves have already exceeded last year’s entire season total of nine, with six games left. They have a tall order on their hands this weekend when they host the Grant MacEwan Griffins in a two-game set at Masich Place Stadium tonight (6 p.m. start) and Saturday (6 p.m.).
“We’re definitely hoping to make the playoffs – we’ve had a lot of good opportunities in front of the goal, which is kind of different for the program. We’re having more goals than last year,” said Jones. “There’s more contact and the play is just a lot faster (than her junior college league), you don’t have as much time on the ball. We’ll just continue to try to keep the ball and transition quickly on defence so we’re not making the little mistakes that are costing us goals.”
The Edmonton-based Griffins are cooking at a 5-2-1 pace and have climbed into third place in the Pacific with a chance to solidify a playoff berth this weekend.
“We had them twice last year, both 1-nil games and they’ll be tough,” said Sedgwick. “They’re a strong, physical, technical team and well-organized. They are proving to be a much-improved team, one that gets better every time. They’ve taken big steps in the last couple years.”
The UNBC men (4-2-3, fourth in Pacific) are playing Thompson Rivers University Saturday and Sunday in Kamloops.