LANGLEY, BC – The Trinity Western women's soccer team fell to third place in the Canada West standings after a 1-0 loss Saturday night at Rogers Park in Langley, B.C with the UBC Thunderbirds leapfrogging their provincial rivals into second.
The victory improves the Thunderbirds record to 7-3-1 as they now have three wins in their last four games. TWU is 6-3-2 with only one win in their last six matches.
The Thunderbirds got on the scoreboard in the 10th minute with what would be the winning goal when
Diane Rizzardo flicked a header over TWU goalie Kristen Funk and saw the ball take its time rolling across the line.
The goal was initially called off because Thunderbirds midfielder
Lisa Furutani was in an offside position but, upon confirmation from the linesman, it was determined Furutani didn't actually touch the ball, so the goal stood.
After Rizzardo's goal, the Thunderbirds turned into a defensive wall in an effort to preserve their lead for the next 80 minutes. And it worked.
While the Spartans maintained most of the ball possession in the first half, TWU never really threatened the UBC net. The closest opportunity for the Spartans came in the 29th minute when Nikki Wright put a header on net that briefly handcuffed Thunderbirds goalie
Meghan Best before she was able to corral a bit of a juggling act.
The second half provided much of the same action as the first 45 minutes with UBC defending well. The Spartans attacked but ultimately never broke through.
The Thunderbirds lone chance of the second half came in the 59th minute when UBC came within a few feet of doubling their lead with
Caitlin Davie getting her foot on a corner kick but slipped it just wide of the left post.
The nearest opportunity for TWU was in the 61st minute when Daniela Gerig sent a clean ball through the box that eluded Best but also just escaped the foot of TWU's Jenna DiNunzio who would have had an open net.
In the end, the Spartans were simply stymied all game by a strong UBC defence and, when TWU did generate chances, they were unable to finish.
The Spartans next game will see them face UBC on the road in the second leg of their home-and-home series next Saturday. Kickoff is at 5:00 p.m. at Thunderbird Park.
GAME NOTES – Injured UBC forward
Janine Frazao, who is the Thunderbirds leading scorer and is third in CW with seven goals, was unable to dress Saturday…TWU outshot UBC 11-8…TWU's Kristen Santema and UBC's
Rachel Ramsden were both shown yellow cards.
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