VANCOUVER - The No. 9-ranked UBC Thunderbirds topped the University of Victoria Vikes to count back-to-back victories against their island rivals.
Kelly Cook scored the winner in the 2-0 victory Friday night at Thunderbird Park.
The T-Birds (6-2-1), who won at Victoria (2-2-3) last weekend, showed no complacency in the rematch following their 3-0 victory last Sunday at Centennial Stadium as they pressured the Vikes from the get go.
Lisa Furutani engineered the first chance for the home side in the ninth minute when she curled a near perfect ball into the UVic penalty area. There, it was run on to by
Caitlin Davie whose one-touch re-direction caromed off the post, a sight seen all too often at Thunderbird Park this season.
UBC was not discouraged and continued to pressure the visitors and were rewarded for their efforts. In the 25th minute
Carmen Lindsay sent her corner kick into a melee in the six-yard box. UBC defender
Kelly Cook fought her way through the crowd and got a head on the ball re-directing it home for a 1-0 lead.
UBC head coach Mark Rogers was impressed with the way his team came out against the Vikes.
"Following a good result last weekend I thought we had a strong response in the first half and got value for our money" said Rogers.
The T-Birds would cash in again just before half-time. Jordan Kitigawa led a counterattack down the left wing and looked to cross the ball to a streaking Rachel Sawer. The ball would not reach Sawer as a UVic defender got a foot on it. Her clearing attempt was not clean, however, and the ball deflected behind her and past Vikes keeper Stephanie Parker to send the T-Birds into the half with a 2-0 lead.
The second half saw the visitors the reverse the flow of play as they desperately tried to get on the scoreboard. UBC withstood the attack thanks to sound defensive play by midfielders
Diane Rizzardo and Amber DeVriendt, both seeing extended field time with UBC starters out with injury. Their efforts, and the steady play of goalkeeper
Leah Peric, preserved the clean sheet for the T-Birds.
"I thought Diane and Amber did the hard work that needed to be done and really held us up during that rough patch during the second half", noted Rogers.
The Thunderbirds will look carry forward their strong play when they host the surprising Fraser Valley Cascades Saturday night at Thunderbird Park. The Cascades defeated UBC 2-0 last Saturday in Abbotsford. Victoria travels to Langley to face the No.7-ranked Trinity Western Spartans.
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