Kristen Funk, one of the best women’s soccer goalkeepers to play for Langley-based Trinity Western University (TWU), has been inducted into the Canada West Hall of Fame.
The former Spartan is the third TWU product and second women’s soccer player honoured.
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READ MORE: Spartans Funk recognized for efforts on and off the pitch
One of the most decorated women’s soccer players in Canada West history, Funk helped TWU win three CIS championships, and three Canada West banners over her five-year career in goal between 2008 and 2012.
The five-foot-six goalkeeper from Calgary was a back-to-back First Team All-Canadian and Canada West First Team All-Star in 2011 and 2012. During the Spartans national title runs in 2009 and 2012 she was also selected as a CIS championship all-star. Her finest season was in 2012, when she was tops among Canada West goalkeepers in goals against average (0.33) and shutouts (9), while leading TWU to first place with an 11-1 record.
During her fourth and fifth seasons, the Spartans went nearly a calendar year without a loss, recording a 21-game unbeaten streak spanning September 16, 2011 to September 8, 2012.
As of 2019, Funk still holds the Canada West regular season record for wins with 43 and is fourth in conference history for shutouts with 30. With nearly 5,000 minutes played, Funk is fifth all-time in that category and also sports the conference’s third best career save percentage at .863.
Funk was also known for her contributions away from the pitch, working with with the Karen community in Langley, helping out at a local homework club for the refugees.
“It was a shift from doing things for myself to doing things for other people and I really enjoyed it,” Funk told a 2012 profile.
“It was very rewarding, very worthwhile.”
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To commemorate 100 years of university sport across Western Canada, the Canada West Hall of Fame was created in the spring of 2019, with the first induction class set to be unveiled throughout the 2019-20 season.
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Email: dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
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