Noseworthy, a 20-year nursing student from Corner Brook, is a member of the defending champion Curling Rangers who will square off with first-place Clancy’s of Stephenville in the Corner Brook women’s soccer league final tonight 7 p.m. at Wellington Street Sports Complex in Corner Brook.
The Stephenville entry bowed out to the Rangers in the final showdown the past two years, but Noseworthy believes the girls from the airport town are the clear favourites heading into the showdown because of the skillset sprinkled throughout the roster.
Noseworthy, a centre midfielder with the team, expects the speedy opposition to be at the top of their game so she figures the Rangers will have to be ready for a hard game.
“We feel that they’re the definitely the team to beat,” Noseworthy said of her respect for the opponent. “ “They are very aggressive, but we will just have to fight back and be that much more aggressive.”
Noseworthy takes pride in being a player who does not mind taking control of the ball and feeding the strikers with hopes of denting the mesh.
She may relish the role of playmaker, but she has an offensive upside, which she showed in the semifinals when she scored the game’s only goal in a win over the Corner Brook Under-18s to punch her team’s ticket to the final.
“I’m ready and I’m super excited. I can’t wait for all of our teammates to go out and do our best,” said Noseworthy.
Stephenville finished first in the regular season standings and earned a berth in the final by defeating the Corner Brook Under-18s by a 2-1 score Sunday night, a much shorter route to the final than the Rangers who had to win three games to get a chance at defending the crown.
Taylor Fradsham said the girls have talked about putting an end to the losing skid against the Rangers in the final and they are going into the final with confidence because they feel they have improved a lot since losing last year’s final.
Fradsham plays the left wing and her focus is on moving the ball forward up the field and being responsible in both ends of the pitch.
It’s a game that the girls are excited about playing and Fradsham believes the key for her team is an aggressive start on offence and scoring the first goal early.
“We’re going to bring it,” Fradsham said.
