NACI Girls soccer season underway

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By Eoin Devereux

The Neepawa Banner

The regular season is underway for the NACI Tigers girls soccer team. The squad is off to a 2-0 start in Zone Seven competition, after a 5-2 win against the MacGregor Mustangs on Sept 16 and a 4-2 victory over the Minnedosa Chancellors on Sept 18.

Coach Kaiten Critchlow said coming into this season, there were some increased expectations.

“The goal coming into this year was to win zones. There are only three teams in  Zone Seven this year, Neepawa, MacGregor and Minnedosa. We’ve played both teams and I feel we match up very well with them.” said Critchlow. “Our zone has traditionally been very strong. Last year, there were three teams from our zone that qualified for provincials and the year before, there were two teams that qualified. We do have great competition.”

Critchlow said even though this is a team with only a few veteran players on the roster, it’s still an extremely talented lineup.

“This year we only have two grade 12 students, but we still have a very strong core of grade 11 and 10 kids. We also have some new grade nine students that are turning out to be really strong. There is a lot of natural athleticism. These girls have also been able to pick up new skills very quickly. When we have a practice and we run through ideas, they’re catching on very quickly.”

Critchlow added that the Tigers are hoping to build on last season’s success and make their mark at provincials.

“Last year was the first time in a while that the team made it to provincials. There, against that level of competition, we had to play more physical. We had to be ready to play teams that had a bit more skill. We learned from it and are better because of it this season.” He said.

The next league game for NACI is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept 30 in MacGregor against the Mustangs.