After leading the country by scoring 54 goals in 12 games and making 287 shots on net last season, the Queen’s Women’s Soccer team is set to host the U SPORTS Women’s Soccer Championship in November of this year.
As the host-site, the team will automatically be playing in the championship, no matter what their season looks like. An opportunity the team intends not to take for granted.
“Our expectations are that we qualify. We don’t want to just be the host, we believe we’re a very talented team that should be at this tournament no matter what,” said Kirstin Tynan, starting goaltender, in an interview with The Journal.
Coming off the 2023-23 season with a final record of 10-1-3, Head Coach Dave McDowell stated this year’s team is a much younger team than last year.
“You’re talking about two different products,” he told The Journal.
Last year, the team lost their only game of the season in the semi-finals against the York University Lions. The game made it to double-overtime before losing 2-3.
McDowell said this loss made for a prime learning experience.
“I think from a coaching standpoint there were some lessons learned,” he said. “I think right now what we’re doing is focusing on a young group. Really getting them to focus on the things that we think make us successful and really been pushing those sort of fundamental team values.”
This championship is something the team has been preparing for throughout the offseason. According to McDowell, the team has been working very hard and the team is starting to come together.
“Our winter season was really good last year, [it] was really focused despite having some of our senior players on exchange and I think our players have worked hard to get themselves ready for this training camp. It’s been a good training camp,” he said.
Tynan, one of the team’s senior players, was going into her first year when the championship was announced in July 2020.
“It’s been a long time coming,” she said. “We’re absolutely buzzing for it.”
With the team looking to earn a place at the top ahead of the championship, there are several goals set for them ahead of the season.
“We’re a team that buys into these goals,” Tynan said. “When you’re in a group of people working towards a common goal, it’s empowering in a way. I found that in the past we’ve met a lot of our goals.”
Many objectives McDowell has for the team are tactical. When it comes to individual goals, Tynan says she divides her individual goals into physical, mental, and technical categories.
The team plans to learn how to adapt to different styles of play, but they also have a different strategy.
“It is important that we do what we do and try to make the other team adjust to us, as opposed to vice versa,” McDowell said. “That has been a successful formula for us.”
Tynan and McDowell urged fans to come see the group play at some point this season to witness the team’s high-quality talent.
The U SPORTS Women’s Soccer Championship will take place Nov. 9-12 at Richardson Stadium.
Tags
Dave McDowell, Kirstin Tynan, soccer, USPORTS
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