5 November 2007 By Graham Croker
Having won the women’s Super League First Grade and Under 21 soccer premiership double for 2007, Sydney University capped a great season by being elevated to the NSW Women’s Premier League for the 2008 season.
Women's Super League First Grade team
News of the elevation was made official at last week’s Football NSW Silver Medal Dinner, where Sydney University’s Astrid Larssen was named Super League Player of the Year and Sydney University won the 2007 Club Championship.
Larssen’s on-field efforts not only found favour with opposition coaches, who awarded best and fairest points each week, she also won the Club's Outstanding Achievement Award for her stellar season.
Sydney University Soccer Club administrator Terry Hogan said the efforts of the two senior women’s teams were brilliant. “The Firsts went through the season undefeated and the Under 21s only lost one game – a semi-final,” he said. “But they made up for that by winning the grand final.
“They’ll be very competitive in the Premier League. Head coach Mick Somers will be at the helm again and they have most of their players coming back as well as a few new recruits.”
The grand finals were played at Edensor Park, where Sydney University First Grade defeated Southern Branch 2-1 with goals from Anna Fudeh in the 39th minute and Belinda Seers in the 62nd minute. The win was a sweet one for Fudeh, who was a member of the Under 21 side that was defeated in the 2003 grand final.
Sydney University Under 21s beat Western NSW Panthers 1-nil to take the 2007 title. It was a gripping affair, with the deadlock finally broken in the 80th minute when Kate McFarlane found the net to avenge Sydney University’s loss in the major semi-final.
The First Grade and Under 21s, along with Under 16, Under 14 and Under 12 teams commenced pre-season training last week to prepare for the 2008 Premier League season.