HEAT BACK HOME FOR A PAIR IN THE PCSL June 12, 2009
Posted by lread in Women's Soccer.trackback
Shannon Kelly should be back in the nets this weekend for the Heat
The Kamloops Heat are hoping that their opponents will feel that in spades when they pay a visit for Pacific Coast Soccer League Women’s Reserve action this weekend (June 13-14). The temperatures are expected to be in the mid to high 20’s as the first place Heat entertain the Fraser Valley Action on Saturday (kick off 5 pm) and the second place Coquitlam Metro Ford Soccer Club (CMFSC ) Xtreme on Sunday afternoon (2 pm).
“We are in a very tough stretch of the season,” says Heat head coach Tom McManus, who doubles as the head coach of the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack. “We are in the middle of four tough matches. Even though we had beaten Richmond 4-1 at home, when you go to their home ground they always have more players which makes the match very tough. This weekend, Fraser valley and then Coquitlam are two excellent teams so our work will be cut out for us.”
Saturdays matchup will be the first of the year between the Heat (5-1-0 for 15 points) and the Action (3-0-2 for 11 points). Sunday’s tilt will be a heavyweight bout. CMFSC (4-1-1 for 13 points) handed the Heat their first loss of the season last weekend.
“It might be a bit of a blessing that we are meeting them so soon,” states McManus. “None of the team liked the loss. I told them to remember that feeling and it is something they don’t want to feel again so I hope they will step up and score on some of the opportunities that they had last week. We don’t want to start struggling with goal scoring since we have been doing so well in the attack.”
The Heat will again be led by Kelli Chamberlain. The Queens University (CIS) forward has seven goals. That is tied for tops in the PCSL. “She is an excellent player,” McManus explains “She has an unbelievable explosiveness from a standing position. Kelli is very powerful and very hard to knock off the ball. Usually when she gets past the last defender, she’ll score. I am sure she’ll be getting marked up in our upcoming matches.”
The Heat’s roster is made up of primarily current and prospective TRU Players. McManus is getting a good assessment of what he’ll have to work with in the upcoming BC College Athletic Association Season. “ The majority of the girls are very committed and I am extremely happy about that. If for some reason they can’t make it to training, they email or call me to let me know why. They believe in what we are doing and can see the benefits of playing at a good level. We hope this continues right into the TRU season.”
McManus believes with the hot temperatures expected, it’ll be a good test for all of his players and will show him whether they take the nutrition and hydration part of his off-season program seriously.
CORNER KICKS: The Heat’s revolving goaltending situation falls upon TRU Grad Shannon Kelly (Kamloops, BC) this weekend. Kelly recently got accepted into medical school in Ireland.
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