Coach Dave Dew says his Peninsula Co-op women's soccer team has improved from last year's 1-10-3 record in the United Soccer Leagues W-League.
Co-op, known as the Victoria Highlanders last season, will be put to the test today in their home opener, 2 p.m. at Royal Athletic Park against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
The Whitecaps are loaded with talent, including Canadian national team members Melanie Booth, Chelsea Buckland, Chelsea Stewart and Shannon Woeller, who are all preparing for the London Olympics.
Jaclyn Sawicki from the University of Victoria Vikes is also with the Whitecaps.
With the demise of Women's Professional Soccer this year (top league in the United States), teams like Vancouver, Seattle and Santa Clarita have added several standout players.
"We have more attacking options this year and we are quicker,'' said Dew. "We lost 15 players from last year but that is the nature of our league with so much transition.
"The Whitecaps will be a big test for us. We have improved but I won't know how much until we start playing the games. We are a small market team and we have decided to stay mostly local and build within the ranks.''
Some of the key players for Dew this year are UVic goalkeeper Steph Parker, Liz Hansen, Janelle Smith, Mariel Solsberg, Amelie Mercier, Jackie Harrison and Lindsay Hoetzel.
Newcomers to the team include Kelsey Tikka, Sarrah Rhodes, Abby Rhaymer and Katie Kraeutner.
Tikka, a defender, played soccer in Canadian Interuniversity Sport with the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks.
Tikka is a two-time CIS allstar. In 2010, she was named the CIS rookie-of-the-year and the most valuable player at the nationals.
Rhodes was part of the Canadian under-17 program before attending Gonzaga University in Spokane.
Rhaymer of Victoria is a former Canadian youth player of the year.
Kraeutner is a Grade 12 student at Parkland and she'll have a busy next few days with Co-op and her high school team at the Island double-A playoffs on Monday and Tuesday at St.
Michaels University School. Kraeutner will be taking her talents to the Nebraska Cornhuskers in NCAA Division 1 soccer next year.
"Vancouver, Seattle and Santa Clarita all have a lot of depth this year,'' said Dew. "It will be interesting to see how the chemistry works on those teams and how the coaches are able to handle the playing time for all those players.''
The other teams in the Western Division are the Colorado Rush, Colorado Rapids, L.A. Strikers and the Pali Blues.
Co-op has a 14-game schedule and all of the home dates are at Royal Athletic Park.
rrauch@timescolonist.com
