The Bisons women’s soccer team finished the 2025 U SPORTS women’s soccer rankings with 11 points, having three wins, two ties and nine losses. In comparison, over the 2024 season the herd had four wins, three ties and seven losses. The Bisons struggled early in the season but had a strong finish with three wins in the last four games, showing promise for 2026.
The three wins for the Bisons came against the Alberta Pandas by 1-0 and the Lethbridge Pronghorns by 3-0 and 6-2. Over the 2025 season, the herd scored 17 goals and got 16 yellow cards, exposing a shortcoming in goal scoring but intensity in physicality. Sarina Mann for the herd was a spark up front with immense offensive contributions, ending the season with three goals and two assists.
For the 2025 season, the Bisons women’s soccer team has been under a new head coach, Mark Colvin. Reflecting on the year, Colvin said, “Our performances over the season were good and not always reflected in the scorelines or in the results.” Looking at how the season ended, he added that he and the team are proud. “Our last weekends, we were able to score lots of goals, pick up lots of points and perform at a really high level of intensity.”
Colvin pointed out there was clear progress compared to the beginning of the season, but inconsistency and a lack of ruthlessness in front of the net were challenges. “We wish that we were a little bit more ruthless in scoring, which was a challenge for us.”
He praised the team’s defensive work in open play. “I felt that our collective defending and open play was really good. We were able to keep games really close,” he said. However, Colvin critiqued defending set pieces, highlighting it as a persistent problem. “From a defending standpoint, set pieces really hurt us. We conceded a significant number of goals off corner kicks and free kicks.”
Colvin also acknowledged the departure of several senior players. “We had seven senior players who all were impactful members of the team […] With the natural transition with the number of players graduating, there’s certain opportunity for other players within our team to take on a larger role next season, which will be very exciting to see.”
Rather than reacting to opponents’ mistakes, Colvin stressed the importance of proactive defending, pressing high up the field to force turnovers in dangerous areas in order to create chances. “A good press is the starting point to ignite a great attack.” According to Colvin, soccer is a very physical game. “A big part of our team’s identity is to play extremely aggressive, to use physicality to win duels, whether those are aerial challenges [or] ground duels, and really to set the tone within the game.” But he was clear that the team aims to play hard but fair within the laws of the game.
For the 2026 season, Colvin outlined key priorities for the off-season. “We want to put a greater emphasis on our passing game, on possession and [on] our attacking buildup play,” he explained. “We’re going to work on our set piece defending and then also within the team as we continue to build the chemistry and partnerships between players.”
The Bisons women’s soccer team will be leading a new Futsal development program from Jan. 16 to March 13 for ages 10 to 14, which will take place at 206 Frank Kennedy Centre in the Gold Gym.
