Illiopoulos will be joining the Thunder in the fall. They signed their letter of intent on Feb. 2.
The Algonquin Thunder women’s soccer team has signed five new players to contracts for the next season.
Courtney Gibbs, Makaila Budd, Hailey Martin, Andrianna Dmulchalsky and Georgia Illopoulos were the players signed to the organization.
The women’s soccer club were crowned OCAA championships last year with a 15-0 record, and finished fifth place at the CCAA national championships. They believe the recent additions will help them propel forward.
“We believe that this group of players will give us the ability to compete on the national stage for years to come,” said Thunder head coach Dominic Oliveri. “And ultimately help us in reaching our goal of winning a national championship.”
The new signees will be brought in to replace previous players who will no longer be with the team.
“The players we signed are direct replacement for players who have graduated from our program,” said Oliveri. “As a coaching staff we have a very specific type of player that we are looking for in each position and all of these players met the criteria we were looking for.”
Gibbs, is the only player among the five that is an out of town signing.
“We targeted Courtney as a player because we felt she was the most talented player that we found in her position,” said Oliveri. “She met the profile of the kind of player we were looking for. We are still working on possibly bringing in one more out of town player. We are looking to win a national championship so our goal is to recruit the best female players available.”
Algonquin attracted Gibbs’ attention and she was impressed with what she saw.
“I pursued Algonquin as I saw the school was attending one of the show case tournaments,” said Gibbs, who will be playing for the Thunder in the fall. “Coach Dominic met with myself and my parents after a game. We reviewed our options, other schools and decided on Algonquin. We were impressed with the school, coaching staff, athletic department and success rate of graduates from Algonquin to the working world.”
Gibbs also believes she can bring a lot to the new soccer club.
“I believe the Thunder wanted me in the organisation because I have a lot to offer the soccer team with my great attitude, skills, willingness to always learn and being a team player,” said Gibbs.
The communication between Gibbs and Oliveri and the Thunder’s recent success were the selling points which prompted her to join the Thunder.
“He always followed up, was very informative during the tour and answered all our questions and more. The technology of the athletic department and the success of the soccer team was key to my decision,” said Gibbs.
There is still five more months until the soccer season begins so only time will tell if the Algonquin Thunder will continue to pursue more players.