TSS Game in Review + Meet Erin Jensen

“Lots of positives from our performance against TSS,” noted returning men’s player and VIU athlete Connor Nelson while he was helping out at one of our youth academy sessions on Monday. 

The guys came out flying and we showed that we can compete against the best teams in the league. We're creating lots of chances as a team. Going into the game against Unity, we look to finish all those chances. Super happy with the effort we put in every week - the results will come with it. 

Next up: the BCPL teams are at home against Unity FC!

Get your tickets here. 

Meet Erin Jensen

Our player promotion intern, Ryan Connerty, recently sat down with Erin Jensen for an inside look at our women's squad's training and game play. A Nanaimo local, Erin came up through Nanaimo United's youth programs before competing at the tier 1 level in high school and going on to play collegiately at the University of Victoria. She has been a cornerstone of our BCPL squad from the very beginning - remaining involved even through an Achilles injury last year. After graduating, she chose to return home to Nanaimo and continue to be a part of our soccer community.

Erin, second from the right.

Introduce yourself.

Last season, I played for VIU. Before that, I used three years of my varsity eligibility at the University of Victoria. One of my four years at UVic was during COVID, so I finished up my schooling, came back to Nanaimo, and since I had eligibility to use, went to VIU for the fall. I currently play in the BCPL and for Nanaimo United’s women’s Premier team. 

We’re four match days in. What are the positives that you and the team have been working on from day one that have really stuck?

I think some positives for us, despite not getting three points yet, are our ability to work hard and not give up no matter what. I think when we’ve either gone down or been on an even playing field with our opponent, we’ve been able to play the full 90 minutes and not give up. We’ve been in most of our games so far, but just haven’t been able to get those three points. I think with Francesco being our coach…he believes in us so much and that really helps us when we’re on the field. 

Is there anything that has surprised you about this group?

I think our commitment, especially at training, has been all-round a surprise. Summer time starts now and the girls have just been so good about staying committed to training, especially those coming from all over the island. It’s not like our team is just players from Nanaimo. We’ve had such good numbers at training and we’re definitely not taking that for granted. It’s not an easy thing to commit to training at least 4 times a week with a game during the summer. This is a lot, and this time of year is often a break for people. I think that’s honestly the biggest surprise for me in such a good way - the commitment on and off the field has been really good.

With all that training, how do you keep going back each day, ready to show up?

We do it for each other. Everyone’s tired after the weekend - you’re not always the most motivated to go to training on Monday, especially after you draw or lose, which has been our case. Just thinking to yourself - you know, everyone’s gonna be there and we’ve got it. We have another game to prepare for. I think having that in your head before going into training for the week is super helpful. Just knowing that you’re going to go out there with your team and your girls and you’re having fun. You have to take advantage of that time because it just flies by.

It’s four weeks in and you’re sitting at two points. Is there something that you think this group hasn’t done quite yet or what do you think needs to change to pick up a win?

A lot of girls on our team are quite literal, which can be such a great thing sometimes. I think we like to be told what to do and given a specific system - for example, we’re playing out the back this way or we’re pressing to this side, we’re pressing for the first five minutes and then backing off. I think just communicating with each other and asking our coaches to help us out with that would really help. I think our fitness is getting better and better so I think that will continue to help as well, but I think just being told that we’re going to try this today or we’re not gonna do this is something that all of us need in our minds out there - something to think back to during a game. Hopefully that’ll be enough to score and win in the end.

You were nominated to the BCPL Team of the Week after you played against Burnaby, a two-two draw. What do you think stood out about your performance and what do you think stood out about the team’s performance?

I’ll speak to the team first - right from the gun, we knew that we were the better team and we were playing well. We didn’t want another draw. The week before, we tied 0-0 against Langley, so going into the Burnaby game, another away game, we said let’s leave it all out there. 

To get that first goal was a big lift for us. We communicated well. We were playing on a smaller pitch so we had to adapt quickly. The field we train on is quite large, so I thought we did well in that aspect of the game. We communicated well, and for me, I was able to get the ball quite a few times down the right side of the field and make a couple crosses. Camryn Curts did such a good job being patient with the ball and was able to slip me through. I had the space to shoot from an awkward angle, it was great. 

They scored in the second half, making it 1-1, but then we got another one. Mary Nicholls scored a header. There was still about 13 minutes left - I think 2-1 is the scariest score when you still have lots of time. They got a goal in that time, and we weren’t able to get another one. It felt like a loss but we were able to keep our heads up because we knew we played well and could build from there. Burnaby was a great learning game and I thought we played really well. 

Catch Erin and the squads in action this weekend at Q’unq’inquwstxw Stadium at 4 PM and 6:30 PM on Saturday May 2 - the women play first!

Get your tickets here. 

See you at the stadium!