Up and down season for Wolves
Roma centre back Mia DiPasquale will be suiting up for Niagara College this fall.
The St. Catharines Roma Wolves women’s soccer team concluded its League 1 season Wednesday night with a rescheduled home game against Burlington SC.
The Wolves finished the season with a 6-9-3 record following a 3-0 win over the visitors. Scoring for Roma were Mia DiPasquale, Kate Smyth and Terin Hultink.
Roma head coach Lucio Ianiero described the season as an up and down one.
“The problem is when we have NCAA players come in, we have to wait for them to arrive and that is somewhere between the first and fifth game of the season,” he said. “Then they leave early either for the last game of the season or the fifth last game of the season. We are good in the middle and not so good and struggling at the end. Happy at times and disappointed at times is the best way to describe it.”
Roma centre back DiPasquale agreed with her coach’s sentiments.
“It was a good season,” she said. “It is always tough with girls coming in and out based on their school seasons but overall we have a strong core. There’s room to improve put it has been pretty good.”
The Wolves’ coaching staff have discussed the issue in meetings as the team finds itself between a rock and a hard place.
“The reliance on these players is a necessary evil because they are skillful. Without them — no disrespect to our reserve team or our under-19 team — the kids there aren’t at the level of League1 just yet,” he said. “It’s women’s and the kids have a lot of maturing and development to do. The last couple of games we have had to rely on our under-19 and under-21 players and when you speak with them after the game they say, ‘That was fast and it was physical.’ They recognize it as well that they are not quite there yet.”
There is no immediate solution but the long-term one is to work hard in the off-season developing the younger players
“It is focusing on personal development, soccer IQ and decision making in specific situations,” Ianiero said. “Their physical development will hopefully come.”
There were a number of high points to the Wolves season.
“We did see some great football played by the girls playing the style that I am insistent upon,” he said. “It’s a style that hopefully has the players leaving the field after the game with smiles on their faces. The results are also important but we want them to play an exciting brand of soccer, one they are going to look forward to, attend every game, have some flair and creativity and enjoy the moments on the field.”
The Wolves might be able to win more games if they boot the ball up the field in a dump and chase hockey style and beat teams with athleticism but that is not what Ianiero wants.
“I like the more technical part of the game, more of a Russian-style of hockey on the soccer field and something that is pretty to watch. I want the fans to enjoy it as well and hopefully the results come.”
Ianiero enjoyed how his squad competed against some of the better and more respected teams in the league.
“When we had Woodbridge here, we outplayed them playing that nice brand of soccer and the same with the Nitros. We ended up losing 2-1. We also tied Alliance and they were last year’s finalists,” he said. “When the girls put their minds to it and decide to come and work hard and compete, we are there.”
The Wolves will have to work their way back to the Premier Division next season because League1 has changed the format. The 10 teams that had the highest point totals in the last two seasons will make up the Premier Division and the rest of the squads will be relegated to a lower division. Roma missed qualifying for the top level by three points.
“The games we lost 2-1 or tied have really come back to haunt us at the end,” Ianiero said.
DiPasquale feels the path back to the Premier Division is simple.
“We just have to put the work in. We have a good core and Luc does a good job of teaching us how to play. The way that we play we are one of the best in the league.”
She is a big fan of Ianiero’s style of play.
“He likes to play through the mid. A lot of the other teams like to play the striker and use the long ball but Luc really pushes to get us to play and I think it is really unique the way that we play. Each of our goals have been great goals.”
DiPasquale enjoys the entire Roma experience.
“The age group is really cool and like I said, we have a good core with some older girls who bring that experience and some younger girls who are just eager to get in.”
She graduated from Brock University with a degree in biomedical sciences and she will head this fall to Niagara College to study to become a civil engineering technician and play on that school’s soccer squad.
“I am switching it up,” the 22-year-old said. “I want to stay local and both of my sisters are in engineering. They kind of pushed me into that and I got a job in that field this summer so it has been really good getting that experience. And, of course, the opportunity to play is always good.”
She is excited to play soccer for Niagara,
“I think it will be a nice change of pace and for me it will be a good opportunity to work on my offensive game and to continue to work on my leadership skills.”
