VANCOUVER – UBC and Calgary got all the scoring action out of the way early on Sunday, combining for four goals in the first 18 minutes of a 3-1 Thunderbirds win at Wright Field.
The T-Birds were jumpstarted by an early goal for the second straight game, as
Sarah Keglowitsch got them on the board just four minutes into the match. The UBC lead was only a few minutes old when Keara Chicquen equalized for the Dinos, but the T-Birds took over the game from there.
Cassie Tayler received a cross-circle pass and one-timed it home inside the left post in the 15
th minute to put the T-Birds back in front.
Robyn Pendleton then made it a two goal lead with her third tally of the weekend just three minutes later. She took the ball on a long run into the circle, beating two Calgary defenders before ripping a shot just under the crossbar.
UBC head coach Hash Kanjee was much happier about his side's effort on Sunday, after the Dinos had the 'Birds on the ropes for much of Saturday's contest.
“We had to address a few things about our play yesterday,” he said. “We held out structure better today and I felt the kids played with a lot more confidence. Our captain Kristen Bertsch played really well, and so did
Miranda Mann on defence. Robyn had another good game too. And we got great help off the bench from Cassie. All around we were better today. We made the right decisions and did the right things.”
Though they were unable to increase their lead in the second half, the T-Birds closed out the match in much stronger form than on Saturday. The Dinos' only pressure in the half came from back to back short corners early on, but they were turned away and forced to play most of the half in their own end.
“Its baby steps right now. We still have some things to fix but today was much better and we will just take each game, look at our game tapes to figure out what needs to be done better and try to fix things and continue to improve,” said Kanjee.
With the win, the T-Birds move into first place in Canada West at 3-1 on the year. The Dinos fall into a tie for second with the Alberta Pandas at 2-2. Those two teams will go head to head next weekend in Edmonton, while the T-Birds will look to remain on top as they host the rival Victoria Vikes at Wright field next Saturday and Sunday.
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