Cougars' win was a long time coming
Sept. 16, 2009 - Regina Leader-Post
By Tim Switzer
The questions can finally stop.
Members of the University of Regina Cougars women's soccer team can now go the whole season without hearing incessant queries like, "How anxious are you to get a win?" and "When are you finally going to win a game?"
The Cougars, winless in 36 Canada West games since Sept. 30, 2006, finally snapped the streak Sunday with a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the host Lethbridge Pronghorns.
"We knew we could do it -- the passion was there, we all wanted to win and we were working together so well," said fourth-year midfielder Chelsie Dorosh, who was a rookie during the Cougars' last victory. "When we were down 2-0, that, 'Oh my God, here we go again' feeling came back. That makes you work harder because we know we're way better than that.
"The program has been building and building and each year we said we'd win a game. But it's baby steps. Looking back in the other years, we built from that and have come this far. We definitely deserve it."
While one victory was a big step for the Cougars, the team probably should have been 2-0-0 after the weekend rather than 1-1-0.
Regina led the Calgary Dinos 4-1 with 12 minutes remaining in Saturday's season opener only to give up four quick goals and lose 5-4.
Fourth-year midfielder Randi Schmeichel prefers not to remember it just for the late-game collapse.
"I don't think we could have done as well on Sunday if we didn't take that learning experience on Saturday," said Schmeichel.
"We need to have the steel resolve when we're in a game that we're winning so we don't start doubting ourselves like, 'Holy crap we're winning; what's going on?' " added third-year head coach Bob Maltman, who earned his first victory with the Cougars. "We need to know that's what we expect to do now."
Much of the credit for the weekend's success will go to rookie forward Meagan Cormier, who had two goals and an assist in each contest. On Monday, the 18-year-old Campbell Collegiate graduate was named the Canada West female athlete-of-the-week. Cormier did not practise Tuesday while dealing with a cold, but is not expected to miss any games.
"She was absolutely fantastic," said Dorosh. "She connects so well with us vets, especially. She is born with it."
But Cormier's performance should not overshadow the rest of the squad, noted Maltman.
"Chelsie set two balls up for Meagan and because it's a team game, one player might stand out a bit more than another in one weekend," the head coach said. "(Rookie Adrianna) Bonutti got one off a free kick that she followed in. Kimbi Wiebe had her first goal too."
It's those kinds of performances that have boosted the Cougars' collective confidence heading into contests this weekend against the Alberta Pandas (Saturday) and Saskatchewan Huskies (Sunday). Both games are scheduled for noon at Cougars/Rams Field.
"We realize we're maybe now on the highway to success to stay for the long term," said Maltman. "We just have to build on what we did last week."