Kwantlen women’s soccer comes home bearing national bronze

The Kwantlen Eagles women’s soccer team arrived home Sunday from the Canadian Colleges’ Athletic Association National tournament in Toronto, with bronze medals around their necks.

Along with the bronze, they hold the title of being Kwantlen’s first-ever team to win a national medal.

Starting goaltender Amelia Ng, who was earlier named MVP at the provincial tournament that sent the Eagles to the nationals, was proud of the way her team turned things around after starting their season 1-4.

“We grew at the right time,” she said. “We just started working hard and played well together. There was not one individual who worked harder than anyone else to get to where we are now. We worked as a team.”

Coach Vladimir Samozvanov was equally as proud of his team.

“I didn’t change anything from the beginning of the season. I knew the girls could play better, I had confidence [in them]. Luckily, things turned out well. It felt great to accomplish what we did,” he said.

Kwantlen’s only loss in the national tournament was to the eventual national champs, Concordia University College of Alberta.

The Eagles had a slow start to their season, losing four of their first five games, but finished strong with two big wins over Thompson Rivers University, their first ever, and UBC-Okanagan, a team who beat them in September, 2-1. Those wins propelled them to a berth in the Provincial tournament.

The Eagles charged through the B.C’s, winning gold, and moved on to the national championships.

The 2009 National Champion Kwantlen Eagles are: Amelia Ng, Rosemary Kelly, Samantha Lewis, Tara Makrigiannis, Marissa Dionne, Meghan Springford, Colette Coulter, Jaqueline Rempel, Brittany McNeill, Shanay Sangha, Christine Walker, Courtney McCulloch, Christina Henderson, Jacqueline Buchler, Taylor Sarchet, Kelsey Doherty, Thoralea Pilton, Sarah Davies and Meghan Nilsson. Coaches are: Vladimir Samozvanov, Joan McEachern and Kim Bull.