VANCOUVER - After settling for a scoreless draw in their home opener, the UBC Thunderbirds came out hungry for goals on Saturday afternoon against the Regina Cougars, scoring early and often in the first half on their way to a 3-0 win at Thunderbird Park.
BOX SCORE
UBC opened the scoring just four minutes in off a Rachel Sawer corner. Her ball found the head of defender
Kelly Cook in the middle of the box, and she was able to nod it towards the far post and past Cougars keeper Michelle Anderson.
Cook doubled the T-Birds' lead in the 15th minute after another UBC corner. After
Carmen Lindsay's shot from just outside the 18-yard box was blocked by a Regina defender, Cook collected the loose ball and managed to thread it through the crowd and just inside the post.
"We had been really emphasizing set pieces and we could have had four or five goals on set pieces today, and I'm happy with that," said UBC head coach Mark Rogers. "I thought we really attacked the ball on the set piece all game with intent to score."
The lead grew to 3-0 in the 39th minute after a long through-ball from the UBC back line eluded the Regina defence and fell to striker
Janine Frazao with nobody between her and the keeper. She controlled the ball with her first touch and then calmly slotted it past a charging Anderson to give the home side some extra breathing room before halftime.
"Going into halftime 3-0 was great because it gives me an opportunity to play some players I hadn't played and rest players who have been playing frequently," Rogers said. "I think the players looked just a little uptight yesterday and today they looked happier to be out there. More smiles and more fun."
The T-Birds had several chances to further extend the lead, as evidenced by their 17-2 advantage in shots on goal and 8-0 edge in corners. Some nice saves by Anderson kept the scoreline from expanding any further though, as did Regina's aggressive offside trap strategy, which led to 13 offsides by the T-Birds.
The T-Birds improve to 3-0-1 with the win, and will remain at home next weekend to host Alberta on Friday and Saskatchewan on Saturday. Both games start at 5 p.m. at Thunderbird Park. The Cougars are now 1-2-1 and they will remain on the road to take on Lethbridge and Calgary next week.
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