The youngest of the three St. Albert Impact teams in premier women’s soccer is playing wise beyond its years.
Impact/Inter SC is a solid third in the 10-team table and the 5-3-1 (23 GF/17 GA) record includes the 3-0 win against Impact 1 (2-5-1, 11 GF/24 GA) and 4-3 loss to Impact Premier (4-2-1, 26 GF/15 GA) in the Edmonton District Soccer Association.
Ninety per cent of the Impact/Inter roster is 21 years or younger and just over half the team is playing in their first outdoor premier league season.
“With the first round complete the girls have done well and are starting to get to know each other. Some of the soccer has just been outstanding to watch and I’m looking forward to watching more in the second half of the season,” said head coach Rob Bourbonnais, who is also in charge of the U17 Tier 1 Impact (1-3-1) girls in the Edmonton Interdistrict Youth Soccer Association.
Impact/Inter was formed with the purchase of the Inter SC premier team, 6-8-2 last year, to support the influx of players joining the Impact program and in anticipation of the number of talented youth players that are being developed by the St. Albert Soccer Association.
“Girls such as Samantha Bourbonnais and Keara Brown (both are joining the MacEwan Griffins) and Kya Soper (Concordia Thunder recruit) are gaining valuable experience,” Bourbonnais said. “The amount of playing time in the summer at the club level for girls that play college and university soccer is so important. They need to play and as much as possible. We have three teams at Impact so girls play a lot over the 18-game season. It’s part of the Impact philosophy.”
The leading Impact/Inter scorers are Alana Mawhinney with a division-high eight goals and Izzy Dobbin, one of six league players with five goals apiece.
Last year Mawhinny played division one and with the NAIT Ooks, along with Keara Quinn and Jen Perry.
Dobbin arrived from Northwest United and also saw action at MacEwan with Jocelyn Alego and goalkeeper Tianna Groeneveld.
Marissa Duguay and Alexandra Craig are the Impact/Inter veterans who have returned to the beautiful game.
“They both played in the U.S.A., have a great compete level and are great role models who lead by example on and off the field. They’re so valuable to this young team. They are such good players that settle the game for the team and make everyone around them better,” Bourbonnais said.
Impact/Inter did show its age in Tuesday’s 5-0 loss to Northwest (7-0, 20 GF/1 GA) at the ESA Complex. Last year’s premiere champions haven’t suffered a loss since 2015 and lost only four times since the 2013 season.
“You need your A game for 90 minutes against a roster like that or it will show in the final score. The girls didn’t play poorly but were just a little off sync. There is nothing to do but move on and refocus for the next match. We get another chance to play them (Aug. 15) and we will need to do better,” Bourbonnais said.
Impact/Inter was coming off Sunday's 1-1 draw against second-place Green & Gold (6-0-1, 27 GF/6 GA) as Dobbin slotted the equalizer late in the match at the ESA Complex.
Impact/Inter was the better team in the first half but failed to score on several opportunities, including hitting a post and being denied by goalkeeeper Rebecca Rief, who saved a free kick by just barely tipping the ball over the crossbar. On the ensuing corner kick, Impact/Inter threatened again only to have the ball cleared to safety before it could cross the goal line.
At the other end of the pitch, Groeneveld came up strong against the only dangerous chance she would face in the first half by stopping a shot from close in.
Green & Gold, who finished ahead of Northwest United at last year’s provincials as gold-medallists, had a couple of chances in the opening 25 minutes of the second half and was rewarded when a ball that had initially been saved by Groeneveld would take an unfortunate ricochet off a defender and into the net for an own goal.
Impact/Inter continued to defend well and the team’s discipline and hard work was rewarded when forward Christine Wong forced a turnover and headed towards the net at speed taking on and beating Green & Gold players. With defenders scrambling to converge and deny her a scoring chance a defender’s clearance fell to Dobbin, who promptly rifled a superbly placed shot to the far post and in.
“The team was very good in the first half and worked extremely hard defensively in the second. On another day we could’ve easily found ourselves trying to defend a lead but instead we were losing and time was almost out,” Bourbonnais said. “The finish by Izzy was first class, fantastic placement and power. The scenario the girls had to deal with fighting to the very end like that to take what was deserved is a great experience and will help to establish the character of this new team.
“It’s a very enjoyable group to work with and I have seen a lot of smiles and joking around among the girls. Sticking around after the game at the clubhouse to enjoy some food and laugh is great,” Bourbonnais added. “Whether we win or lose the game it should be a good time. I don’t ever want it to feel like it’s work.”
The next match is Tuesday versus Hearts United (1-6, 8 GF/20 GA) at 6:30 p.m. at Riel Park.
In the first half of the premier fixtures, Impact/Inter blanked Hearts United 3-0 June 4 for the first of two consecutive shutouts in three days.
