Niagara 1812 women exceed expectations
The Niagara 1812 women’s soccer team has enjoyed an excellent inaugural season in the Women’s Premier Soccer League.
Competing in the Great Lakes Conference against Cleveland, Binghamton, Erie and Rochester, the squad finished tied for first with 14 points on the strength of four wins, two losses and two ties.
Niagara 1812 has advanced to play Long Island in the East Region Conference semifinal July 13 in Central Slip, N.Y. The final would be played the next day with the winner advancing to Oklahoma City to compete in the WPSL Final Four.
“To be honest, we knew most of the girls and had worked with most of the girls and we knew what we were getting involved with. There were a handful of girls we had heard of and knew of but they really hadn’t spent much time with the coaching staff,” head coach Lucio Ianiero said. “We knew there was going to be a learning curve in terms of our philosophy but it definitely exceeded our expectations. We had no idea of the level in the WPSL.”
The season began slowly.
“We didn’t start off very well. We started off with a loss and a tie and I think we just picked up some momentum in the middle of the season and we thought we could compete at that point,” he said. “We strung a couple of wins together and then the girls started to realize their potential.”
Playing in the States was an adjustment for Niagara 1812.
“You know the Americans. They never say die and if they are losing 3-0, they will come back and claw their way back to 3-2,” said Ianiero, referring to a pair of games versus Cleveland. “There was no quit and that surprised us a little bit so next year, looking at that, we will have to prepare a little bit better and make our game plans a little bit better.”
The biggest added preparation will be improved fitness.
“Not to blame anybody but I think we got started a little bit late. We couldn’t make the announcement until three weeks before the league started and we couldn’t let players know,” he said. “That put us behind the eight ball and it was hard to get things started at that point. Now that we know, we will start earlier and train throughout the winter and we have already started our recruitment process.”
The team also needs to be better prepared mentally.
“Now we know what we are up against the girls won’t be surprised.”
Ianiero noticed a different approach to the game in the States.
“They are more direct physically. They like to go north and south and up and down the field pretty directly. We had a number of injuries this year, including a couple of ACL injuries, just because the physicality of the game is a lot higher there.”
He feels the calibre of the league is on par with League1 in Canada and better than Ontario University Athletics.
Ianiero is hoping success breeds more success.
“We are always looking to improve and the fact that we were as successful as we were in the standings, will attract more players,” he said, “Before the season started, Carm (Provenzano) was getting e-mails from NCAA players in the States wanting to come and play on the guys side so hopefully with the way we finished on the girls side, we can attract some talent from the States as well.”
This past season, the Niagara 1812 women featured a roster of mostly Niagara-based players and one American on a roster of 20.
Ianiero enjoyed his first season with the team.
“It was seeing the girls jell and enjoy themselves. We didn’t say it was going to be a fun summer and intramural squad but to see them pull off some wins and have confidence in themselves was nice to see.”
The squad played its games at D’Youville University, located in just south of the Peace Bridge in Buffalo, and practised as Governor Simcoe.
Provenzano, Niagara 1812’s chief operating officer/operations lead, described the season as a positive experience.
“I think the women jelled nicely and got stronger as the season wore on. We dropped some points early but I think we were the strongest team to finish the season and I am happy with that.”
The lessons learned will be invaluable next season.
“It is a very competitive league and we always have to be at our best every game. We have to train at our best because the league is as high as you can get.”
Like Ianiero, Provenzano is excited to build on a great debut season.
“We hope so. Being on both sides of the border is an advantage because we can attract from both sides. It is tough to juggle but at the same time we are looking for some more D1 players to come along and also OUA players at that level, if not at even a higher level.”
He is also hoping to build the team’s fan base.
“With the women, I expected more (fans) but we only lightly touched Buffalo and this area. We started so late and got accepted in the league so late that it was difficult to get going with sponsorships, etcetera. We had some good sponsors but at the same time we could do better. And we will do better next year, for sure.”
