VANCOUVER – Two early goals from
Janine Frazao got the UBC Thunderbirds off to another fast start on Saturday, and they managed to keep their first clean sheet of the season as well, downing the Lethbridge Pronghorns 4-0 at Thunderbird Stadium.
The match looked like a mirror image of Friday's UBC-Calgary tilt early on, with Frazao again getting UBC on the board within the first minute of action. After
Taryn Lim put a shot off the crossbar, Frazao got to the rebound on a bounce and headed it home to put UBC up 1-0.
Things didn't get much easier defensively for the Horns, as UBC would fire 32 shots at goal by the time the final whistle sounded. Shortly after Lim failed to convert on a breakaway early in the first half, Frazao got a clean break of her own and made no mistake, slotting the ball just inside the left post for her third tally of the young season.
She had several chances to complete the hat-trick, most notably in the 40
th minute when her header was kept out on a diving save from Taura Willoughby, and the 53
rd minute when she fought off a defender to gain a partial breakaway, only to put the ball off the post and have the rebound come back at her too fast to redirect on net.
“The finishing was poor but you have days like that,” said head coach Mark Rogers. “I'd be more concerned if we weren't creating chances. It's tough when you have players like Janine who on another day would get six in a game like today. So what do you say to her? She's a proven goal scorer and they just have those days sometimes.”
Frazao wasn't alone in missing a few chances at goal, as the T-Birds saw multiple breakaway opportunities fall by the wayside, and several chances in front of net either missed or directed straight at the keeper.
Lim did find the scoresheet late in the first half, burying a loose ball from in close to tie Frazao for the early team scoring lead with three goals.
After a second half filled with missed chances, Rachel Sawer got on the board in the final minute with a great shot off a free kick that found the top corner from 20 yards out.
“It's an early season game and maybe we're just squeezing the stick a little too tight, but at the same time we totally controlled that game and dominated from start to finish,” Rogers said. “So I'm of two minds really. One the one hand we won 4-0 and at the same time the finishing in front of goal was poor. But it's just one of those things where you have to draw a line through it. Game's done, we take the points, and now we have to get ready for a game against Trinity that's going to be a hundred times quicker next week.”
The T-Birds will be on the road to take on their rivals from Trinity Western next week, who also won comfortably against Calgary and Lethbridge on opening weekend, outscoring them a combined 12-1.
Last year the 'Birds were 1-0-1 against the Spartans, and the teams finished one-two in the regular season standings. They meet for the first time in 2012 on Saturday, September 15 at 5 p.m. in Langley.
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