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Mid-season report: women’s soccer

Jack Hutchison frustrated with team’s slow start

(Photo by Alex Maxwell)
(Photo by Alex Maxwell)

Jack Hutchison is looking for changes to take place on the women’s soccer team immediately. If not, he says, the team will not be prepared for the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) Championships hosted on their own turf.

The women’s soccer team entered the halfway point of their season with a 3-3-1 record. They were sitting in the middle of the AUS standings – something Hutchison says is uncommon.

“In my 15 or so years being [on the Tigers coaching staff ], we haven’t gone into this period in sixth place ever, that I can think of,” he says.

The Tigers have had a few rough outings, losing two games to the Cape Breton Capers and one to the Mount Allison Mounties. The Mounties game, however, is the one that frustrates Hutchison the most. He says he’s noticed the team has not come prepared during their first games of the weekend.

“It may be a bi-product of the several new faces in the lineup not coming prepared,” he says. “But all of a sudden, they pick it up in game two.”

That changed completely, however, following the Tigers’ 7-0 demolition of the Université de Moncton Aigles-Bleus on the road. They kept their momentum going the next day, beating the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) 10th-ranked UNB Varsity- Reds 1-0 to boost them to fourth place in the AUS standings. However, Hutchison knows there is still work to do. They’ve lost two games to the Cape Breton Capers, one by a score of 5-0. Two of the Tigers’ five wins have come against the Saint Mary’s Huskies, who sit in the basement of the AUS standings with a 0-8-1 record.

“It’s one of those games that is best described by stats,” says Hutchison, in regards to the five-goal loss to the Capers. “They had six shots on net and scored five. All of a sudden, your head falls a little bit and you’re down, and before you know it you want somebody to turn off the lights so we can get out of here.”

After her hat-trick against the Aigles-Bleus, Michelle Yates, who received first-team all-star honours as a Huskie in 2012, leads the Tigers in goals with six. Hutchison says her lead-by-example attitude is a reflection of what he wants his team to become. “

She’s a high achiever,” he says. “She’s the one putting in the extra runs. She’s the one in the top three of your fitness sessions. She’s the one coming for extra help and talking to you about getting better. She’s arguably the best player on the team and still comes in for extra help, and [if you’re her teammate] you’ve got to think, “where do I fit into this picture?””

Third-year Victoria Parkinson is the next highest goal scorer with four. Hutchison says she is a key component to the team’s success.

“If I can put it nicely, Victoria Parkinson is wildcard. And you just don’t tame a wildcard; you let it play,” he says. “With her read and understanding of the game, you just have to let her go.”

With AUS Championships hosted by Dal for the first time in ten years, the Tigers are guaranteed a spot in the playoff picture. Despite this, he says the Tigers shouldn’t be taking their foot off the gas.

“Having it at home is nice and definitely takes some of the stress off, but I’m not sure it’s a good thing. We’re still going to be ramping up the intensity in practices to make sure we’re at our best for the championship weekend,” he said.

The schedule does not get any easier for the Tigers as the regular season winds down. They take on the Acadia Axewomen on Oct. 17, against whom they were able to squeak out a tie, followed by a home game against the surging UPEI Panthers who sit third in the AUS rankings. They’ll then have a match against the redemption- seeking X-Women on Oct. 25 and will conclude the regular season against the Memorial Seahawks who have found their groove as of late, with an 5-3-1 record identical to the Tigers.

Despite their recent success, Hutchison says the team has a lot of work to do if they want to be considered a competitor in the AUS Championships.

“It’s the work ethic that needs to be there in the AUS to be successful, and I think some of those things need to get in line.”

Graeme Benjamin
Graeme Benjamin
Graeme is the Gazette's Sports Editor. He was the Assistant Sports Editor for Volume 145.
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