Loyalist Lancers Fall women’s sport teams beating expectations

By: Jessyka Maliksi  

BELLEVILLE – The Loyalist Lancers women’s soccer team lost their most recent game to George Brown 2-0, but that doesn’t reflect how much better the team is doing this season.

The women’s rugby team is in the same boat. They finished their tournament last weekend with one win, one loss and one tie. The outcome of their games doesn’t show how much progress they’ve made throughout the season in comparison to last year.  

The soccer team hosted George Brown on Sept. 29. 

They went into halftime down 1-0 and battled hard until the end. But they came out short, losing by two.  

Third year goalkeeper, Emily Mealing had 18 saves which kept the Lancers in the game.  

Although the team didn’t finish the game with the results they wanted, they were still happy with how hard they worked.  

“We’re just a full together team and no matter the loss we have, or even the win, we celebrate as if. We’re not happy with the result but we’re just happy to be there with each other.” said Mealing in an interview.  

Soccer season starts in the first week of September and finishes at the end of October. Throughout the summer there were training camps being held for local players and for those who could make it out.  

Halfway through the season, the team is already in a better position than they were last year.  

The team currently has a 2-5 record, which is already better than their 1-8-1 record from last year.  

A big difference from last year is the team’s chemistry says Mealing.  

“We just seem to mesh better…we’re more of a team, no one is getting down on each other…everyone is so friendly…we’re just connected” 

The soccer team saw changes to their coaching staff at the end of April last year, hiring Derek Arsenault, a former Lancer, as the head coach. He is joined by former Lancers, Kelsey Lawrence, and Kyle Joy as assistant coaches.  

The new coaches have made a significant impact on the team’s success according to Mealing in terms of practice schedule and their soccer knowledge.  

“They just know so much, and it makes everything a difference.”  

In previous years, they didn’t have as many practices as they do this year. Now they practice every night according to Mealing.  

“But our coaches took into account that it is a lot on our bodies.” She says the team mixes light and hard practices, followed by a film session.  

Having film sessions after practices has been a key factor in the team’s success. According to Mealing, they team didn’t watch film last year, and now “it’s changed a lot because now we have expectations going into a game…And I think if we didn’t have it, it would be whole other season.” 

In terms of building chemistry, the team has come a long way from the beginning of the season to where they’re at now says team captain Christine Vandertoorn.  

“On the field there’s a lot more trust.” says Vandertoorn.

“We’ve come a long way. At practices we work really well together and (we’re) starting to bring that onto the field. It took a little while for us to get used to playing together, but it’s starting to come together.”  

Head coach Arsenault agrees the team is starting to come together very well, especially in terms of energy.  

“We’re just trying to help them see that we need to progress in all different ways and come together like that and creating that solid foundation.”  

As the season goes on, the team continues to grow and work towards their goals.  

The team already beat their overall record from last season. Now they’re currently sitting in a playoff spot, which hasn’t been done since 2014 according to Arsenault.  

With three games left of the regular season, the team has a tough last few games to compete in. Arsenault says each of these teams score a lot of goals, so their goal is to minimize the gap between the scores.  

The women’s rugby team has also been doing well this season. They’ve beaten their record from last year and still have one more tournament to go before hosting provincials at the end of October.  

They now stand at 3-6-1, which is better than their 2-16 record from last year.  

Head coach Ken Fitzgerald said the team is looking a lot different compared to last year. This year they have a full roster of girls who know how to play rugby, whether they were on the team last year or played at a high level.  

“It was good. The team that was put together (has) a much better rugby IQ and rugby class than (what) I’ve put together in the last few years” said Fitzgerald “And the confidence is starting to show, the girl are very very tight knit.”  

Having athletes experienced with rugby has contributed to this team’s success. Fitzgerald mentioned in an interview that he can now focus on implementing systems during practices instead of having to teach the basics of the game. 

“Everybody knows the generalities of the sport, and we can actually kind of curve our practices to work towards that. (I’ve) been able to implement systems this year that I could never implement before.”  

Third year team captain, Hannah Bender said “Winning two games already halfway through the season, and then last year we only won two games all season, that was really exciting, especially for the vets and returning players.” 

“We were pumped.”  

With the team having a lot more skill than previous years, there’s a lot of potential to come out on top by the end of the season said women’s rugby captain Elayna Reid in an interview.  

“I knew we had some really good players lined up. A lot of local players, but they all were club players, played for (Rugby) Ontario, played for (Rugby) Canada, so I expected to have a good team.” said Reid “I think knowing that we actually have a good chance in becoming top three this year, it definitely (is) pushing us to work harder.”  

Although they have a lot of skill on the team, the most important thing is being able to apply your skills in the game and work together.  

Just like the soccer team, rugby season is short. So, there’s a limited time in being able to build chemistry and learn how to work together. According to Bender the chemistry came naturally. 

“This year., I think it’s kind of natural. We’re all really happy to be here, and we have one common goal. We want to win.”  

“This year the team we have is capable of some fantastic things.” said Fitzgerald. The team is already so close, it’s a matter of putting the pieces together. 

With only one tournament left before provincials, the team’s goal is to come out hard and show people that they deserve to be there.  

“I think a common goal that we have at the back of our minds at practice is that provincials is October 28. Let’s be ready for (it). We’re coming out hard and we want a medal.” said Bender.  

Loyalist College Athletic Director Cristy Latham said, “You don’t have to necessarily understand soccer or understand rugby, you just have to want to feel like you’re a part of something…You’ll feel that Loyalist Lancer pride and you’ll feel it I n the excitement and the sort of vibration in the crowd.”  

It’s important to support the athlete’s hard work added Latham, “Support our athletes, they work so hard at what they do, and the hours the put in. So, it would be great to have a few more cheers coming from the crowd to support them.”