Wolves come up just short
Mia DiPasquale doesn’t need to score to earn her keep for the St. Catharines Club Roma Wolves.
The 21-year-old Grimsby native is more than happy to take care of her own end and leave the offence to the strikers and forwards.
“Everything starts in the back,” DiPasquale said. “Everything has to come up the field so knowing we are part of that and then we get in where we can on corner kicks or penalty shots.”
DiPasquale’s described her role as a centre-back.
“I think you have to stay calm. It’s tough when there are strikers running at you but you have to trust your team and be confident in yourself as well,” she said. “I’m one of the oldest on the team so it’s just kind of encouraging the younger players, keeping that high level of competition up and making sure everyone is competing to the best of their ability.”
Roma coach Lucio Ianiero appreciates what DiPasquale brings to the pitch.
“A great, solid steady player who very seldom makes mistakes and is very tough as a centre-back, what a coach would love to see in a centre-back,” he said. “Just know you’re going to have a competitive effort coming from every game.”
Ianiero said it’s easy to overlook the defenders, even when things go well.
“We had a string of shutouts there and it’s a team effort and a big part of that is the defensive line,” he said. “They don’t often get the accolades but it’s important for them to be recognized as well.”
DiPasquale, who was also a standout basketball player for the Blessed Trinity Thunder, is heading into her fourth season with the Brock Badgers soccer team.
“I kind of new I always wanted to stay close to home,” she said. “It was between Brock and McMaster and Brock worked out with soccer so that made my decision easy.”
DiPasquale, who is majoring in biomedical sciences, was recruited to Roma by Ianiero.
“It’s good. It’s comparable to OUA but different in a lot of ways,” she said. “The competition is good and I feel it’s bettering me as an individual player and helping with teamwork.
“It’s definitely gets you ready. Just from the COVID year having that time off and then going right back into things is tough.”
The Wolves dropped a 2-1 decision to Vaughan Azzurri Friday night at Roma.
Arianna Zumpano netted the lone goal for Roma, which dropped to 7-10-1.
The Wolves are home again next Friday versus Hamilton.
“At the beginning of the year we said we wanted to win the thing but to be realistic we wanted to finish in the top half of the table,” Ianiero said. “We’re there. We have some tough games down the stretch so it might be difficult to finish top 10. We had some games where we were in control and we didn’t get the points we needed and now it’s come back to bite us.”
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