BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
All their hard work has finally come down to
a one-game showdown.
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Jolene Fournier, left, and Sarah
Little are ready for the playoffs. The Lady Vees tackle
Brock in St. Catharines this afternoon. |
Today, the Laurentian University women's
soccer club squares off against the Brock University Badgers in
St. Catharines, in the first round of the OUA playoffs. Game
time is 3 pm.
It's a must-win for the Lady Vees, as the
loser goes home to think about next season. If the Lady Vees
win, they will then play either Guelph University or York
University on Sunday.
Laurentian beat Brock 1-0, on the strength of
a Jolene Fournier goal, on Oct. 3, during the regular
season.
Laurentian will continue to play their
bread-and-butter defensive game.
"We're approaching the playoffs with a frame
of mind that if we play our defensive game, then no one can
score against us," said head coach Rob
Gallo. "We need that one break to score a
goal."
The women have a lot at stake.
"If we play our heart out, like it's our last
game, we can definitely compete and, hopefully, beat them,"
said midfielder Fournier. "This could possibly be my last game,
as well as for a few other girls, so we want to win it. It
means a lot to me and the rest of the team because, for a lot
of the girls, it's the first time in the playoffs, so it's
huge."
The women promise to put forth their best
effort.
"We have to give it our all and leave
everything on the field," said Sarah Little. "We have to play
as a team. If we can play the way we played in the first half
of the season, we will be fine. We beat them 1-0 earlier, but
that doesn't mean anything. It could have gone either way. We
just have to go out and play hard again."
Success will come from tenacious play.
"It will come down to which team makes the
sacrifices to win each and every ball, defend with vigour,
pressure opposing defence and create goal scoring chances,"
said Gallo. "We're a tenacious group and succeed on our hard
work ethic."
