FEATURED PLAYER: ELLA MASAR

July 3, 2007 - Though she may have missed the start of the season, Vancouver Whitecaps forward Ella Masar is proving to be a key figure in the women’s team.

The 21-year-old did not appear in the first two W-League Western Conference games against arch-rivals Seattle Crossfire Sounders, with her debut appearance coming in last month’s 2-2 draw against San Diego Sunwaves. It was Masar’s first opportunity to play on the Swangard Stadium pitch and begin a forward partnership with a fellow American in veteran Tiffeny Milbrett. Whitecaps fans were then treated to the potential of the attacking pair at UBC Thunderbird Stadium last month, as Vancouver thrashed Fort Collins Force 4-0.

Yet, it was on the club’s recent four-game road trip that both Masar and Milbrett helped boost the Whitecaps chances of defending their W-League title. The pair led from the front in claiming a further three wins and a draw for Vancouver in the US state of Colorado. It leaves Bob Birarda’s side sitting at the top of the Western Conference standings and looking forward to a promising conclusion of the 2007 campaign. “I have to be honest, at first I was in awe because playing with someone of that high of calibre is a once in a lifetime opportunity for so many,” Masar said of Milbrett to whitecapsfc.com. “Yet, Tiffeny has done nothing but made me play with ease. It has and always will be a great honour of having the experience of playing with her.”

In her first season with the Whitecaps, Masar has so far made six appearances and scored a goal for Vancouver, having had previous W-League experience closer to home with Chicago Gaels. A native of Urbana, Illinois, Masar still has one more year of US college soccer to play with the University of Illinois Fighting Illini in the autumn. For now, the speedy attacker is concentrated on helping the Whitecaps repeat as W-League champions. “I think it has been a very rewarding experience so far,” Masar said of her first season at the club. “Coming from such a high level of competition at college to having the same level of soccer for the summer is personally the best soccer decision I could've made. Also not to mention that all the people I have met have welcomed me with open arms has just made it that much more incredible.”

Spending the summer in Vancouver has brought Masar her first opportunity to live in a different region of North America and away from the familiar surroundings of her native Illinois. “Vancouver is probably the farthest thing from Illinois scenery,” she said. “My University of Illinois teammate Emily Zurrer keeps making fun of me because as we flew into Seattle before we headed here in May, I pointed to a mountain and asked what it was. Of course, I knew it was a mountain, I just wanted to know what the actual name of it was – it was Mount Rainier. Vancouver is indeed a very beautiful city and a place I do hope to visit again.”

Masar also had plenty of praise for the Whitecaps as a club. “With the Whitecaps being run as such a professional organization, I think any other summer league team would have a hard time hanging in the same ballpark as Vancouver,” she said. “Despite only having one game at Swangard Stadium under my belt, that experience made a lasting impression on me because the immense support from the community and sponsors was a real force to be reckoned with.”

Masar’s abilities have not gone unnoticed with the US national team, as the striker is currently involved with her country’s Under-21 program. “My aspirations for the United States would be to represent my country for our full national team,” she said. “It has been a real blessing to be able to train with the U-21’s since January and all I can hope is that one day, I will be able to have the chance of playing with the ‘big timers’, as we say.”

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