A return to basketball for Vanessa Soffee has certainly paid dividends.
The feisty point guard returned to competitive play when the Fredericton Freeze hit the Maritime Women’s Basketball Association floor this season.
Now, she gets to keep playing.
The Fredericton product will complete her fifth and final year of eligibility when she suits up for Mohawk College Mountaineers of the Ontario Collegiate Athletic Association in the fall.
Soffee will move to Hamilton, ON, to study Community and Justice Services.
She officially committed to Mohawk and head coach Mlhai Raducanu earlier this month after starring with the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association’s St. Thomas University Tommies for four seasons.
‘Vanessa is bringing her game to the OCAA after a very successful career in the ACAA,’ Raducanu told Mohawk athletics. ‘I am excited for her to showcase her elite defensive skills. She’s a great fit for us at point guard.’
Soffee, who won a New Brunswick Interscholastic Athletic Association AAA girls’ crown with Fredericton High Black Kats before joining the Tommies, is a double-edged sword on the floor.
She can squeeze through traffic in the paint offensively, doesn’t mind shooting the three-ball and her quick hands can turn defence into offence.
Soffee averaged just over 15 minutes in her first MWBA season, averaging 5.3 points per game, 1.3 assists and 2.2 steals. She was a plus 4.2 over the course of the season for the Freeze which lost in the league semifinals last weekend to Lake City 56ers of Dartmouth/Cole Harbour.
She was an absolute threat for the Tommies before graduating in 2023. She ran the offence for 68 games, scoring 9.8 points a game, 4.9 boards, 3.4 assists and 3.1 steals.
Soffee was named ACAA Rookie of the Year in her first season and went on to earn three Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Academic All-Canadian awards. Soffee was also selected three times as an ACAA First Team All-Conference player and was a two-time ACAA Defensive Player of the Year. Her standout 2019-20 season saw her named both ACAA Player of the Year and St. Thomas Female Athlete of the Year.
Mohawk was ranked No. 15 in the CCAA during the 2024-25 season, but earned a berth in the national championship which was held at Fredericton’s Richard J. Currie Center.
The Mountaineers earned their first OCAA title in 34 years and made their first national appearance in 33 seasons when they arrived in Fredericton back in March.
Mohawk plays in the OCAA West Division with Fanshawe College Falcons of London, Redeemer College Royals of Ancaster, Sheridan College Bruins of Brampton, Humber College Hawks of Etobicoke, Conestoga College Condors of Kitchener, Lambton College Lions of Sarnia, St. Clair Saints of Windsor and Niagara College Knights of Welland.
Soffee gets to don the Mohawk jersey for the first time when regular season action opens Oct. 17 at Redeemer.
The Mountaineers begin their home season Oct. 25, hosting Niagara.
– Vanessa Soffee in action against Miramichi. (Fran Harris Photo)