Coquitlam's Melissa Mobilio and Janine Frazao of Port Moody are considered leaders on their respective Trinity Western Spartans and UBC Thunderbirds university women's soccer teams.
The pair of Tri-City standouts will go head to head -- or feet to feet -- when their squads collide tomorrow (Saturday) in Langley to kick-off the CIS season.
The Spartans with the midfielder Mobilio, who's an Archbishop Carney high school grad, enter the game ranked No. 1 in the CIS Canada West conference in a pre-season coaches poll after going 9-3-2 last season. Coquitlam defender Kristen Santema, a Centennial high school product, is also considered an impact player on the Spartans.
The T-birds, who with striker and scoring star Frazao won silver in the Canada West last campaign, enter the season projected third in the CIS top 10 list. Frazao tied for the T-birds' scoring lead with Lisa Furutani last season, each with seven goals and one assist.
With coaches not permitted to vote for their own school, four different schools garnered first-place votes, including three apiece for TWU, UBC and the Alberta Pandas. Fraser Valley Cascades appeared at the top of one ballot.
The first-place Alberta Pandas of last year failed to gain a nationals berth but, with a host of big names back for 2011, they grabbed the No. 2 spot in the poll with 89 points in the voting system, two back of the leading Spartans (91).
The Thunderbirds managed 86 points, followed in order by Fraser Valley (71), the Victoria Vikes (58), Saskatchewan Huskies (55), Calgary Dinos (39), Manitoba Bisons (33), Regina Rams (28) and Lethbridge Pronghorns (20).
Canada West is consistently the most decorated of the four conferences in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), winning at least 10 CIS national titles each year from 1997 to 2010. Comprising 15 schools from the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C., Canada West produces numerous major award winners each year, with many going on to athletic success around the globe in pro leagues or events such as the Universiade Games, in which Frazao competed last month in China.
THROW-INS: Cam Canales, who quarterbacked the Terry Fox Ravens to the B.C. AAA high school football final last season, is a freshman this grid season with the UBC T-birds.
