The New West Cougars are Metro Women’s Soccer League success story.
The first-year over-30 club side won the Classics bronze division championship with a 2-1 victory over the Westside Red Devils at Burnaby Lake Sports Complex-West on March 30.
Liz Porter scored both goals for the Cougars, who were the brainchild of player/mananger Courtenay Edwardes.
“I just wanted to play soccer and play in New West,” said Edwardes, who enticed as many friends as she could to come out and play in order to put together the 20-player side.
With nearly half the team new to the game of soccer, and few others with much post-secondary experience at all, the first-year side stumbled out of the blocks, losing four of its first five games while tying the other, before finding a coach approximately two months into the season.
“We literally went from a team of mismatched moms to winning the cup,” said Edwardes, who gave up playing club soccer as a teen in the 1990s. “But more importantly it was a good experience, especially for those who hadn’t played before.”
Porter scored the eventual game-winning goal in the first half on a shot to the top corner of the net from near the 18-yard box.
Christy Beattie registered the win in goal after some stellar goalkeeping.
New West took a 2-0 lead in the second half on Porter’s second of the game before Westside managed a late counter.
The win has made believers out of the team of friends, the vast majority of whom grew up in the Royal City and still live in the area.
“All the girls are hooked,” remarked Edwardes, who has already signed up the nucleus of the Cougars team for spring soccer. “We just want to get better and improve our skills.”
The Cougars completed their first full season of club socccer in second place with a record of 7-5-1.
