WINNIPEG - The No. 7 UBC Thunderbirds women's soccer team rebounded from its first loss of the season to beat the Manitoba Bisons by a score of 2-0.
UBC lost at Alberta last Sunday while the Bisons, after a shaky start to their season, won both of their games the weekend prior in Regina, and were looking to keep that pattern going.
The wind would be an unavoidable factor, gusting at 55 km/h as the two teams took to the field on Saturday.
The first half didn't see a lot of action, as both teams worked to adjust to the powerful winds. Manitoba would be the first to enjoy the wind at their backs, but even still, it was UBC who managed to get the majority of scoring chances in the first half.
The best opportunity of the game went to the Thunderbirds, when one of their players got right in on net, and fired a shot that was destined for the mesh, but the Bisons' Danielle Rocan showed up just in time and blocked the shot.
The first half would draw to a close at a 0-0 tie.
Strangely, the wind died down considerably over half time, and while now it was now at the backs of the Thunderbirds, it wasn't nearly as much of an advantage as the second half got underway.
UBC continued to put up chances, as
Diane Rizzardo fired a shot at close range early on in the half that Bisons goalie Chloe Werle just got enough of to tip it over the top of the net. Shortly after, UBC's
Jordan Kitagawa would get a similar shot, this one ringing off the crossbar in a lucky break for Werle and the herd.
As time wound down in the second half, the Bisons' downfall would come in the 73
rd minute, when Manitoba's Gillian Sidon was fouled inside the box, awarding a penalty kick to the Thunderbirds'
Janine Frazao. Frazao made no mistake from that distance, giving Manitoba's Werle no chance to make the save, and putting UBC up 1-0 with less than 20 minutes to play.
The Bisons luck would only get worse from there, when only five minutes later the Thunderbirds'
Natalie Hirayama would manage to get in close enough to fire a shot just over the head of Werle and into the corner of the net, putting UBC up 2-0 with time winding down.
It would be enough to seal the victory for the Thunderbirds, and the game would come to a close at a 2-0 victory for UBC.
The Thunderbirds will travel to Regina to face the Cougars on Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m.
