Wright back at it

Posted by admin on Sep 22, 2009 in Sports, Volume 14 Issue 1 | 0 comments

Last season, striker Nikki Wright capped off one of the most successful freshman seasons in CIS history by taking home CIS Rookie of the Year, Canada West Player of the Year, as well as earning a national championship.
“Last year was special – we obviously achieved one of our major goals that any team sets out at the start of the season. It was a bit surprising, but very rewarding,” says head coach Graham Roxburgh, who is entering his eleventh year as TWU’s bench boss.

This year’s Spartans, however, will not have to worry about flying under the radar as they did last year, when they began the season unranked and did not enter the top ten until midway through the season. The Spartans were ranked #1 to start the season, and have held onto that ranking through the first two weeks of the season.
“This year is a lot different than last because of the way we finished last year. There’s a lot of
pressure that comes with being ranked number one,” says Wright.

Though Wright garners much of the attention, including from opposing defenders, she is surrounded by an incredibly deep team that sent four players in addition to Wright to represent Canada at the World University Games in Serbia this past summer, along with coach Roxburgh. The group included goalkeeper Kristen Funk (2nd year), defender Jillian Dietrich (2nd year), and midfielders Rebecca Ferguson (4th year) and Melissa Mobilio (3rd year).

This year’s Spartans, who have started out their season 3-0-0 , are loaded with talent at every position. “This year’s team has the potential to be the most talented and deepest team I’ve ever coached,” says Roxburgh.
In addition to the aforementioned Team Canada quintet, the Spartan women return the core of their team that finished last season 15-3-4 against CIS competition, and 9-2-3 inthe Canada West.

Supporting Funk defensively in addition to Dietrich will be fellow second-year Jessica Filion, and accompanying Ferguson and Mobilio at midfield will be returnees Kaleigh Henry (3rd year), and second-years Tessa Meyer and Chantelle Whitehead.

Up front, the women will be led by the anterior Wright, who led the CW in scoring last season with thirteen goals and seven assists, and third-year Daniela Gerig, who finished last season with ten goals of her own. Wright and Gerig will be supported by freshman Alisha Tesan, who heads the incoming crop of freshman that include defender Colleen Webber and midfielder Kristin Santima.

“Last year our team knew that we had a spot in Nationals no matter what because we were hosting. This year, with the tournament being out [in Toronto], we will have to earn our way in,” says Wright.

Roxburgh, who coached a young team to a national title last year isn’t concerned with his current team being too young to repeat. “With the new talent we’ve brought in and added to an already great roster, we definitely think we have the players to repeat.”

The Spartans will play their home opener this Saturday when they take on UBC at 5 PM on Spartan Field.