Profile: A Tale of 1,000 Goals

A milestone goal occurred this weekend for the Gee-Gees women’s soccer team.

Number ten in grey heads the ball towards the net. — Photo: Greg Mason

September 10, 2019

A milestone goal occurred this weekend for the Gee-Gees women's soccer team. When Mikayla Morton headed Hailey Walsh's service into the Varsity Blues net to establish a 1-0 lead in the first half of Saturday's game it marked the 1,000^th regular season goal in Gee-Gees history.

How does a team get to 1,000 regular season goals in just over 25 seasons of play? Sustained excellence, a combination of depth and all-star scoring power, and a tremendous defensive record which allows the forwards to take their chances.

The 1,000^th goal came in regular season game number 345, which gives the program a 2.90 goals per game average. At the same time that they have maintained consistent offensive power, the Gee-Gees had allowed just 179 goals at the time that goal number 1,000 was scored (0.52 goals against). Ottawa has scored 5.58 times more often than its opponents. In the 345 games, Ottawa has recorded 210 shutouts.

The highest goal-scoring seasons in team history came in 1999 and 2012. In 1999, Deanna Saracino led the way with 14 of the team's 55 goals. That season ranks as the highest goals per game in team history as the regular season was just 12 games – a 4.58 scoring clip. 2012 was the only other season in team history where the Gee-Gees eclipsed the four goals per game mark, netting a team-high 67 goals in 16 games for a 4.19 average. Pilar Khoury tied Saracino's team record with 14 goals that year as well. Ottawa has averaged three goals or better per game in 10 seasons.

Mikayla Morton, who scored the milestone marker, now has 15 in her Gee-Gees career. That accounts for a tidy 1.5 per cent of all goals scored. She was one shy of joining the ten goals in a regular season club in 2018 – a group of 10 student-athletes who span the history of the program and have collectively accomplished the feat 17 times. The full list is at the end of this article.

Now in her second season with the Garnet and Grey she is already moving up the career goals scored ranks as well. Katherine Bearne is the active career goal-scoring leader with 22 (including a goal scored on Sunday which was team goal number 1001), while Emma Lefebvre has 17. Bearne will be shooting to become the sixth member of Ottawa's 30-goal club.

Pilar Khoury is the all-time program leader in regular season goals with 58, accounting for nearly 6 per cent of the team's 1,000 goals. The five-year Gee-Gee scored six goals in her rookie season and then went 13-14-14-11 over the next four campaigns. Her five years of success helped to set her apart from the second all-time leading scorer, Valerie May, who missed the 2004 season due to injury.

May tallied 9 goals in her freshman year to lead the team, and then led the OUA in scoring in 2005 with 12 – a goal per game average. She ended her career with nine and six goal seasons, totaling 36. At the time, that was the team record. She also had the single most valuable season as a scorer in team history – her 9 goals in 2003 accounted for 36 per cent of the team's total that year, narrowly edging Julie Gareau's productivity in the program's first season when she scored 12 of the 34 goals (35%). Gareau concluded her Gee-Gees career with 29 regular season goals.

In terms of an all-time duo, Pilar Khoury and Julia Francki have the goal-scoring numbers to rank number one in team history. Playing the same seasons, 2011-15, the duo combined for 94 goals with Francki equaling Valerie May's career output of 36 regular season goals. Both players were named OUA East Most Valuable Player and All-Canadians, and the Gee-Gees captured two OUA championships during their careers.

Courtney Luscombe (2005-09) sits fourth all-time at 35 career goals and was teammates with May for four seasons. That duo appeared in four straight OUA finals, winning the banner in 2006 and capturing national silver and bronze medals in 2005 and 2006, respectively.

The first to break 30 goals in a career was Isabelle Lessard who potted 33 in her career which spanned 1996-2000. Lessard's career was highlighted by a 12-goal season in 1999 – helping the team to that record of 4.58 goals per game.

Goal 1,000 came in the 39^th regular season meeting with the Toronto Varsity Blues. Ottawa has scored 81 regular season goals against Toronto, a 2.01 goals per game clip.

1 percent of the 1,000 goals came in a single game. Ottawa defeated Ryerson 12-0 on September 13, 1997. Ottawa has also met Ryerson 39 times, and counts 166 goals against the Rams (4.2 per game).

Against Trent, Ottawa has potted 238 goals in 49 games prior to the 1,000^th goal. The Gee-Gees added three more on Sunday and now average 4.8 goals per game against the Excalibur.

Rounding out the top three victims of Ottawa's scorers over the years are the Carleton Ravens. The Garnet and Grey have tallied 123 goals in 49 regular season games, a 2.5 goals per game average. For comparison, Ottawa has scored 56 goals in its 49 games against Queen's (1.1 per game, the lowest of any OUA East team).

Ottawa has outscored all of its OUA East opponents in all-time head to heads. Teams that are now in the OUA West account for 44 of the 1,000 goals as inter-divisional games took place from 2002-05 and York played in the OUA East from 1994-2001.

1,003 goals and counting. The Gee-Gees are ranked number one in the nation heading into week three of the 2019 season, with a big milestone checked off the list. The team hosts Laurentian and Nipissing this weekend, with both games at 1 p.m. at Matt Anthony Field, where 384 Gee-Gee regular season goals have been scored since the first game there in 2001.

Graph of goals scored per year from 1994-2019