Blues Ready to Roll

The PACWEST soccer season opens this weekend and the Capilano Blues are poised to make a run at the Conference title and earn a spot in the CCAA national championship.

The women’s team is coming off a magical season in which they upset the Douglas Royals to win PACWEST silver last year, then hosted the national championship.  They played well and captured a CCAA bronze medal beating the VIU Mariners 1-0 to avenge losing to the Mariners in the Conference gold medal game.

It has been a busy offseason for the Blues hiring a new head coach in Charlotte Ring in January.  The transition hasn’t been all that difficult after Ring spent the 2024 campaign as a Blues assistant coach.  She no doubt gained the respect of the Blues athletes immediately by simply looking at her resume which includes playing four seasons in the NCAA Division II at Queens University of Charlottle in North Carolina.  She set school records for shots on goal and penalty kicks and remains in the program’s top 10 in career goals scored.

“This team has gained valuable experience at the CCAA Nationals, competing against the best programs in Canada and earning a bronze medal,” says Ring.  “We’re eager to build on this accomplishment, continue growing together on and off the field, and work toward a return to nationals.”

Ring will have a few veterans she can lean on this year who will no doubt make an impact on the pitch.  Former captain Lauren Grey returns after a year off but spent the summer playing for Nanaimo United and will interject immediate leadership.  Both defender Isabella Bolognese and versatile fourth year athlete Sophie Pather are back in the mix as well.

New to the squad this season are three very important pieces.  Center back Meghan Ferguson joins following her time at the Venus FC, keeper Beth Brown from Langley United should see time this weekend and midfielder Leah Herald out of Burnaby FC will make an impression.

The Blues played three preseason games and will open the regular season this weekend with a home-and-home against the Langara Falcons beginning on Saturday afternoon at 12:00pm.

Over on the men’s side the Blues last season finished with a 6-4-2 record and held down the second seed, however they were upset in the PACWEST postseason. They have retooled and are hungry to get back on the pitch this year.

They have also been busy this preseason playing seven games facing off against VMSL premier teams Metro Ford, Rino’s, Strathcona and Coastal and also locked up against UVic to give themselves a great measuring stick.

Offensively the Blues will be dangerous for the simple fact that the PACWEST leading scorer from last season has returned. Sebastian Cirotto tallied eight goals last season and will no doubt be an impact player again this year.   Fourth year midfielder Tommy Millar also returns, and Riley Marshall will be the calming presence on the backline entering his fourth season.

The Blues have also added some top-notch talent to help them make a run this year.  Forward Zach Gabrya from Coquitlam is on the roster after playing for Coquitlam Metro Ford SC.  Midfielders Aydin Ali and Rinto Sugiyama are also in the mix having both played for Fusion FC a year ago.

Head coach Steve Miller likes the make up of his squad and is confident coming into 2025, “Our expectations going into the season are that we are looking to win the league and go on and win everything in the playoffs.  This should be the expectations of all our players and staff going into every season.   We understand that every team will be feeling the same way.  If we aren’t going into a season with that mindset, then we shouldn’t be playing this game.  Week to week, we expect to be very competitive, and we want to be very difficult to play against every game.   Our expectations are that are players will be ready to battle every time they put on the Blues jersey.”

Coach Miller and his roster pullover the Blues jersey for the first time in the regular season on Saturday at 2:30pm when they open the home-and-home weekend with the defending PACWEST champion Langara Falcons.