New life after disappointment for Tigers
The Tigers walked into last year’s playoffs with an arsenal of talent that had been producing winning seasons for years. It was the last chance for a group that included Jeanette Huck, Kate MacDonald, Katie Richard and several other senior names.
When they walked down the tunnel, some of them crying, it was easy to wonder when Dal would next have an opportunity to make it to the CIS national level. A lot of talent left that field and with CIS eligibility rules capped at five years, there’s a tendency for teams to have to rebuild.
The Tigers’ program could have stalled, if not for some strong recruiting. Jack Hutchison, through scouting connections in southern Ontario, has been able to add key players such as Daphne Wallace, Emma Landry and Taryn McKenna, all of whom have taken over from departing players this year.
The recruits this year have had an immediate impact and have demanded respect from other players in the league. The Tigers can no longer be shut down by marking one striker tightly, and that allows Hutchison’s preferred 4-3-3 system to flourish. Bianca Jakisa and Landry provide a lot of power from the wings and have both contributed to the attack this year.
Hutchison admitted at the beginning of the year that they would be rebuilding. There has been, and there have been mistakes. The Tigers still wobble a bit on the back end without Amanda Henry or Huck. Kristy McGregor-Bales has looked comfortable enough and Jenna Gabriel has shown promise. Both rookies have five years to develop at Dal.
Time is on the Tigers side. After losing five key players last year, they won’t likely lose any this time. Rieka Santilli and Anna McKilligan both have one year left should they choose to use it. That gives all the rookies time to develop and grow, sometimes quite literally. Doriana Homerski, who’s already pretty powerful up front, is only 17 and could well get bigger and taller in a year.
Expecting an immediate impact this year might ignore that many of Dal’s more spectacular results have come against weaker teams. They’ll need to beat teams like Cape Breton and UPEI under playoff pressure. They’re 1 – 2 against those teams this year. The Panthers found ways to shut down the Tigers for long stretches and have experience containing elite players. Cape Breton have led for long stretches in their games against Dal this year. Shutting down Erika Lannon and Karolyne Blain is tougher than shutting down St. FX’s patchwork attack.
For the first time in awhile, though, Dal look like they have all the pieces to actually play the 4-3-3 effectively. Homerski gives them a proper target striker with power. Playing long balls for the 5’7” MacDonald never worked well. Santilli, who missed most of last year with a broken leg, is now holding down the crucial attacking midfield role in that system. Dal are still a little weak at fullback, but Megan Willox has shown attacking promise and Andi Vanderlann is another example of recruiting two or three years ahead.
The atmosphere around this team has changed a lot. There aren’t any rainclouds anymore. The team has always come across as very tight and very competitive. This year, though, the Tigers are having fun. The youth helps. There’s laughter again. It might be that the 2009 and 2010 Tigers didn’t enjoy themselves enough. When there’s so much focus on winning, it sometimes becomes harder to do so. The 2011 Tigers are focusing on growing, and are winning an awful lot in the process.
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