VANCOUVER - The air-tight defence of the UBC Thunderbirds produced its fourth straight clean sheet on Saturday and eighth on the season, helping the T-Birds edge the Victoria Vikes 1-0 at Thunderbird Park.
UBC goalkeeper
Alyssa Williamson (1st, Langley, BC) picked up one of her easier shutouts of the season, having to make just a single save to keep the Vikes off the board. The UBC back line of
Kelly Cook (4th, Maple Ridge, BC),
Alisha Penev (2nd, Burnaby, BC),
Sydney Morrison (Richmond, BC) and
Jordan Kitagawa (3rd, Delta) defended their turf fiercely, preventing the visitors from getting any serious scoring threats in the first half.
"Obviously Ally has come in and done very well in goal, but the foundation of our success has been a year and a half working on defensive shape," said UBC head coach Mark Rogers. "We've kept eight out of nine clean sheets - how can I criticize? I have to tip my hat to my defence."
Although they had plenty of possession, the 'Birds couldn't put together many scoring threats of their own either in the opening 45, but after spending most of the first half in the Vikes' end, UBC's pressure finally paid off just before the halftime whistle.
Lisa Furutani's ((5th, North Vancouver, BC) corner was headed towards the far post by Kitagawa, and
Taryn Lim (3rd, Richmond, BC) was well positioned at the post to knock a low shot back across the goal through a forest of legs and in to give the T-Birds a 1-0 lead. That goal would hold up as Lim's second game-winner in as many days.
"One of the things we said going into last weekend was that Janine and Rachael have sort of carried the water for us, and it's time for someone else to score," said Rogers. "To have
Natalie Hirayama (5th, Richmond, BC) to kick in a couple last week and now Taryn too, that's fantastic. And Taryn does so much unselfish work for us to create space for Janine, so it's great to see her get a bit of a reward for that as well."
The second half was more of the same, with UBC's back line holding firm against Victoria's advances, and most of the play focused in the Vikes' end of the field.
UBC's best chance to extend the lead came on a corner kick with ten minutes remaining. The ball eventually fell to Lim at the corner of the 18-yard box, but her powerful low drive was stopped by Vikes keeper Stephanie Parker.
The Thunderbirds remain in second place behind Trinity Western now at 7-1-1 on the year, while the Vikes drop to 4-4-2 in a tie for fourth.
Victoria returns home next weekend to take on Manitoba and Regina.
The T-Birds remain at home next weekend for a single match against rival Trinity Western. The 'Birds and Spartans will clash on October 15 at Thunderbird Park.
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