It was a tough weekend for St. Thomas women’s soccer as the team fought for playoff positioning in their final home games of the season. The St. Thomas Tommies won one and lost the other two.
The first game was against the Crandall Chargers on Wednesday night. There the Tommies were able to come up with the win with Elaine Gillis scoring the only goal of the game.
The next game came Saturday, against the University of King’s College Blue Devils. The Blue Devils scored three goals in the final 10 minutes of the first half, and then another one in the second half to defeat the Tommies. Despite the 4-0 score in favor of the Blue Devils, Tommies head coach Alex Valerio wasn’t disappointed with how her team performed.
“I’m not a person who really believes in moral victories, but I think as much as this was 4-0 and everyone is disappointed about that, I feel like we were extremely organized. All of our people that came in today did a job, and did a very, very good job.”
On Sunday, the Tommies hoped to rebound from their loss against the Mount Saint Vincent Mystics, who are currently the top team in the ACAA. The Tommies struggled to get the ball in the net, losing the game 4-1. Logan Kennedy got the loan goal for STU.
Paige Lagacy is in her fourth year at STU and plays centre midfield for the Tommies. She thinks going forward the team needs to work on their offensive prowess.
“Even though the score doesn’t show it, I think we played well defensively,” said Lagacy. “Then as soon as we got the ball up (the field) there was nothing. No one finished. No one made the runs. No one did anything to get the points on our side.”
The Tommies were down 2-0 entering the second half when Kennedy scored the goal to bring them within one. Minutes later the Mystics came down the field and answered back with a goal of their own, making it 3-1. The final score of the game was 4-1 for the Mystics.
“They didn’t rip us a new one or anything,” said Valerio. “I don’t think the girls are disappointed at all.”
The Tommies have had their share of adversity this year. Valerio is in her first year as head coach of the Tommies, so she didn’t know the players coming in. Now she has a set lineup and knows who her starters are. STU has also had some goalkeeping trouble. Last year’s goalkeeper Abbey MacLeod transferred to Mount Saint Vincent, so rookie Mija MacDonald filled in at net. Then a hand injury forced MacDonald out of net. The position is now being held by Lauren Hass who just started playing a few games ago.
STU sits at fourth in the ACAA, just inside the playoffs, which St. Thomas will be hosting. The Tommies will have the Thanksgiving weekend off, and then play their final games against Holland College and Dalhousie Agricultural College.
“Our goal was to make playoffs and I firmly believe we’re going to squeak in there,” said Valerio.
Lagacy is also confident the team will make playoffs and thinks the Tommies have the potential to make some noise.
“I’m sure that we can make a big push and rally and maybe be there for the final game,” said Legacy.
