Jefferson Hagen / MacEwan Athletics
Brimming with promise all over the pitch, a strong group of players round out the Griffins women's soccer squad's 2017 recruiting class, head coach Dean Cordeiro announced Tuesday.
Highlighted by goalkeeper Bianca Castillo, who led her club team Inter to a national youth championship last October, the Griffins gain depth at all positions with the rest of the class. Mackenzie Sloan (M/D), Brittani Bogdane (F/M), Jennifer McIntyre (F), Natalie Frenette (F), Kiera Brown (D/M), Bailey Yarwood (F/D), Kaelyn Blinn (D), Oleceiya Gayle (F), Samantha Bourbonnais (D/F) and Kayla Andrade (D) will all add competition across the lineup for the Griffins.
"We're excited to round out our 2017 class with a lot of kids that have a lot of potential," said Cordeiro, who has previously announced Reaghan McCarthy, Brittany Costa, Sukanya Sukphum and Kaylin Hermanutz as part of his incoming class of recruits.
Castillo, Bogdane, Andrade, Yarwood and McIntyre were all on the roster of Griffins assistant coach Diogo Raposo's 2016 national championship-winning Inter side. Current Griffins Izabella Ponciano, Salma Kamel, Christina Bruni and Sophie Robertson were also on that squad.
"We're excited. You can't teach that winning pedigree," said Cordeiro. "They were coached by Diogo Raposo, who did an incredible job with those young ladies. With Diogo being here, it made a lot of sense for those girls to transition to a place where they're comfortable.
"They all bring something different to the table, but we're looking forward to seeing some of them excel and continuing to grow as players."
Castillo has already attended MacEwan for a year and knows members of the team well. She will officially join the Griffins in the summer.
"Her command in the area, her athleticism, her ability to make saves, her shot blocking is fantastic," said Cordeiro. "We're excited about adding her to the goalkeeper union, as we like to call it.
"The timing and where we are with our goalkeeping situation will work out nicely."
While Canada West all-star Emily Burns is set to return in the Griffins' goal, unfortunately, backup goalkeeper Madison Perry recently tore her ACL and won't be on the pitch this season. So, Castillo will immediately battle Tianna Groeneveld for playing time behind Burns.
Bogdane is the first signing of the coach's 2017 recruiting class, considering she verbally committed in Grade 10. Cordeiro first started working with her at St. Nicholas Academy when she was in Grade 7.
"She was in the elite academy there and was playing with the boys," he said. "Her competitiveness is what really excited me about her and how she continually wants to grow as a player."
Another package of recruits comes from Griffins assistant coach Rob Bourbonnais' St. Albert Impact squad. Sloan, Sam Bourbonnais – Rob's daughter – and Brown played on that squad with previously announced Griffins recruit McCarthy.
"Those girls had a terrific season," said Cordeiro. "They all bring something a little bit different to the table."
Sloan is also working back from a torn ACL suffered while playing with her youth team. She lost a year of playing time due to the injury, but is back training.
"We're excited about her road to recovery and what Mac can bring to the table here once she's fully healthy," said Cordeiro. "She has experience playing with the top youth kids when she was involved with the FC Edmonton program a few years back.
"We're extremely excited. Her soccer IQ is incredible. Her creativity and decision-making ability will be something we'll look forward to as she adds to an already stout midfield group."
Cordeiro had more to say on each one of his other recruits.
On McIntyre: "Jenn McIntyre is an attack-minded player with gifted technical ability and elite footwork. We're excited about her growing as a player and using those skills at the next level."
On Frenette, who comes to the Griffins out of the Red Deer Renegades program: "She's a great athlete – also specializes in track and field. She's got incredible pace up front, is still growing as a player, but we feel that her addition will add to the crop of forwards we already have in place."
On Brown: "Kiera Brown is very intelligent central midfield player who reads the play and is very tidy with her angles and distances."
On Yarwood, who also was involved with the FC Edmonton program: "Bailey Yarwood's work ethic and her competitiveness is off the charts."
On Blinn, who played for Suburban FC in Halifax and also has provincial team experience in the past: "She's very good one-on-one, in terms of defending. Centre back isn't an easy position to jump into U Sports with, but it will give her some time to groom behind some very established players at the position."
On Gayle: "Oleceiya is a very pacey forward out of the Edmonton Strikers who can score goals."
On Bourbonnais: "Sam is a newly-converted fullback from the forward position. We feel with some more time, Sam's physicality and presence will really bode well for her."
On Andrade: "Kayla Andrade is that prototypical defensive-minded centre back, who keeps her player in check and doesn't lose balls – finds players' feet out of the back."
