The Bisons women’s soccer team finished the 2019 season with a 9-6-1 record.In 2017, the team finished 5-10-3 and in 2018 finished 6-5-4. After an improvement every year, the Bisons will be looking to make that record even better during the 2021 season.
With no sports for the rest of the 2021 winter semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bisons sports teams have to start to focus on the next season, whenever that shall be.
The Bisons started by recruiting eight players for the fall 2021 season. Some of those players include Tessa Albi, Iris Bjornson and Tabata Bravo.
Out of those players, arguably the most notable is forward and winger Camila Goldsztein.
Goldsztein previously played for the Force of the St. Charles Soccer Association and attended Grant Park High School.
As a Winnipegger, you always want to represent your hometown university in whichever sport it may be and that is exactly what Goldsztein did.
“I was always interested in attending the University of Manitoba and being a part of the Bisons,” Goldsztein said. “I then reached out to [head coach Vanessa Martinez Lagunas] and she invited me to an ID camp where she was able to watch me play.”
“Not long after [Martinez Lagunas] reached out to me, we had a meeting with herself and [assistant coach Miguel Velazquez Cantu] and they offered me a spot on the team.”
Every player has a tough time deciding where they want to pursue their talent at the university level. In Goldsztein’s case, she was set on the U of M.
“I chose the Bisons because I love the mentality that all the girls have and coaches on the team have,” Goldsztein said. “They are always wanting to improve and achieve more as a team.”
Goldsztein said Martinez Lagunas is “one of the best qualified coaches and I think she can help me achieve my goals and get me to where I want to be.”
Bisons soccer fans are in for a treat when they get to see Goldsztein suit up for the squad. The player loves to create offence and score goals.
“I think my biggest strength as a player is my ability to use my speed in order to attack fast, as well as my willingness to attack defenders and [my] eye for goal,” Goldsztein said.
Goldsztein’s scoring could be a huge positive for the Bisons, as the team lost 1-0 in last year’s quarter-final game to the Calgary Dinos.
COVID-19 has impacted the world and everyone in it differently. Goldsztein said that although the pandemic has “definitely impacted my training,” she has taken the lockdown and used it as a positive.
“If it wasn’t for [COVID-19], I’d be on the field six days a week and in the gym five days a week,” she said.
“However, it did not stop me from working hard at home. I am still working out every day to stay in shape as well as doing some ball work, so when we get going, I’ll be ready.”
Bison fans should be excited for what Goldsztein could bring to the field next year and in return, she feels the same.
“I’m super excited and grateful for this opportunity,” Goldsztein said. “I’m going to do everything possible to help achieve success on the team.”
