Brent Mutis, CapU Sport Information & Compliance Officer
- Team MVP – Kayla Campbell & Claire Ye
- PACWEST All-Stars – Kayla Campbell, Alanah Dulong, Mya Fraser, Aynsley Hurtado, Claire Ye
- PACWEST Player of the Year – Claire Ye
Blues women’s soccer returned to the national spotlight in 2021, winning PACWEST gold and competing for a national championship for the first time since 2007.
With talented veteran players like Alanah Dulong, Catrina Olstrom, Claire Ye, Aynsley Hurtado, and captains Ada Babinski and Julia Peyton, the Blues had the returning pieces in place to keep them competitive. Head coach Dennis Kindel also had a successful recruiting class in 2021 with rookies Taylor Colby, Lauren Grey, and goalie Megan Thitchener looking like future cornerstone players. Adding in recruits Maya Smith and Kayla Campbell from the 2020 year lost to COVID-19, Capilano had all the weapons it needed to take a run at a title.
They set about taking that run as the season got underway in late September and the Blues went undefeated in their first five games, racking up 15 goals along the way highlighted by a 5-2 road win on Sept. 26 over 2019 PACWEST champion Vancouver Island University (VIU), a game where Ye scored twice and Andrea Perrotta dished four assists.
After the 4-0-1 start and a break for Thanksgiving, CapU suffered its first setback on Oct. 17 in a 5-3 defeat on the road at Douglas College. Campbell scored her fourth goal of the season in the loss, giving her goals in each of her first four PACWEST games despite the fact she missed the Sept. 25 and 26 games, sidelined by illness.
Also sidelined for a large chunk of the season was fourth-year forward Olstrom who lost time to an ankle injury. The Coquitlam product returned to the Blues lineup after the loss to Douglas and helped the Blues win three in a row to finish up the shortened nine-game PACWEST schedule.
CapU earned victories over VIU (twice) and Langara in the final three games of the regular season with Mya Fraser scoring in each of the contests, giving her four goals on the season.
The Blues’ 7-1-1 record was the same as Douglas’ record but CapU earned top spot in the standings – and a bye into the PACWEST gold-medal game – owing to a narrow 8-7 goals-for advantage in head-to-head games. That slim edge proved important as Douglas had to play in the semifinals against VIU before facing the Blues in the final the next day.
Douglas looked none the worse for the extra game as a Christine Singh goal in the 23rd minute put them up 1-0 and it stayed that way until the literal last minute when Andrea Perrotta was awarded a penalty kick and a chance to tie the game. With the season on the line, she made no mistake and sent the game to extra time.
In the extra session, played as two 15-minute frames, it again came down to the final seconds and Hurtado, settling a bouncing ball near the top of the 18-yard-box, lofted a drive over the head of Douglas keeper Elisha Machado to give the Blues a 2-1 lead that only needed to hold up until the final whistle which came just moments later.
Hurtado’s goal delivered gold for the Blues and put them into the CCAA national championship tournament which was hosted at Humber College in Toronto. In their first game at nationals, the Blues showcased their offensive skills racking up a season high in goals on the way to a 7-1 defeat of London, Ont.’s Fanshawe College. Catrina Olstrom, Campbell and Colby had two goals each in the win with Fraser contributing the other.
A showdown with CCAA No. 1-ranked Vanier College was the semifinals assignment for CapU and it was a 0-0 stalemate through 90 minutes of regulation plus extra time so the teams went to penalty kicks where the top-ranked Cheetahs got the better of the result and booked a spot in the finals. Vanier went on to claim the national title with a 3-0 win over Sainte-Foy.
CapU played for bronze in their final game against the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) and the Blues were looking good for a podium finish with goals from Babinski and Olstrom in the first half. But SAIT replied to tie the game in the second half and again kicks were needed to determine a winner. Once again, the Blues came out on the short end.
Overall, it was a successful 2021 campaign and an ideal return to sport for CapU and the Blues after a 2020-21 year in which no competition was held in any sport owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For head coach Dennis Kindel, getting the team back to the top of the PACWEST was especially sweet after consecutive silver medals in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Looking to 2022, a PACWEST gold medal has attracted the attention of some top young recruits so Kindel will keep high expectations for his side. In addition, after a shortened nine-game campaign in 2021, the PACWEST should return to a 12-game slate in the coming season.
