Lauren Da Luz’s usual role for the University of Ottawa women’s soccer team is to prevent opposing forwards from scoring.
But it was the scoring boot of the the third year outside defender, who grew up in Coquitlam, that propelled the Gee-Gees towards its ninth Ontario University Athletics championship and a berth in the U Sports national that begin today (Thursday) in Ottawa and conclude on Sunday.
Da Luz, a graduate of Heritage Woods secondary school, scored the only goal in penalty kicks in the Gee-Gees’ dramatic 2-1 victory over the McMaster University Marauders in their OUA semifinal match last Friday. in London, Ont. The win put them in the final against the University of Western Ontario Mustangs which the U of O won, 1-0.
Da Luz,who’s studying civil engineering, was an Academic All-Canadian and she was also named to the OUA East first all-star team.
The Gee-Gees go into the national tournament ranked fourth in the country. They played the University of Calgary Dinosaurs in their opening round match Thursday (after The Tri-City News’ print deadline).
The defending U Sports champions are the University of Montreal Carabins.
