Camryn Curts of the Thompson Rivers University women’s soccer team has kicked off the 2019 Canada West season with a goal and an assist.
A third-year midfielder from the Comox Valley, Curts scored her team’s only goal in a 1-1 draw with the undefeated University of Calgary Dinos, Sept. 7 in Calgary. Her tally came 30 minutes into the first-half of the game. Goalkeeper Danielle Robertson, who also hails from the Comox Valley, played the full 90 minutes and made 12 saves in the game. The opposing goalie made three saves. Robertson was named TRU’s MVP of the game.
TRU was blanked in its next three games before winning 2-1 over the Winnipeg Wesmen, Sept. 21 at an indoor facility in Winnipeg. Curts assisted on Chantal Gammie’s goal 12 minutes into the game.
“We’ve been off to a rocky start playing some big teams like Calgary, University of Alberta and MacEwan,” Curts said. “I think we’ve shown that we’re a more composed and organized team this year. We’ve been working on our attack, trying to create more goal chances.”
Despite losing 4-0 to the MacEwan University Griffins of Edmonton — who lead the Canada West Prairie division — Curts said her squad was right there with them. TRU lost by the same score to Manitoba, but she said they should have had the three points.
“We didn’t show our best on the night, so that was a tough game mentally for us,” Curts said. “I think we did a really good job of bouncing back and beating Winnipeg the next night. The tie against Calgary in our first weekend felt like a win because they are such a dominant team. The last time we faced them in my first year we lost 4-0, so to come back and show them how we’ve developed and grown as a team was huge, and showed them our new team identity.”
Curts feels her game has improved “a little,” but credits her team for helping her reach the scoreboard.
“Without them, I wouldn’t have those points.”
Saturday in Kamloops, TRU rallied with a goal in the 86th-minute to again tie the Dinos 1-1. Then on Sunday, the team played to a scoreless draw with the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves — who had beaten TRU 1-0 in the season opener in Prince George. In Sunday’s game, Curts rang a shot off the crossbar in the 65th minute. Robertson was in net for both games.
With a 1-4-3 record, the TRU WolfPack women sit seventh out of eight teams in the Canada West Pacific division. Trinity Western tops the standings with a record of 7-0-1.