VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds were held to a 0-0 draw on Friday night as the University of Fraser Valley Cascades left
Thunderbird Stadium with a precious point in the Canada West women's soccer standings.
The rainy conditions that preceded the game influenced the first half as the ball skipped a lot and was difficult to control. The first half was very quiet from both sides as it ended goalless.
A halftime huddle from the Thunderbirds seemed to spark the team in to a flying start as the team looked more hungry and aggressive. Two minutes in the second half two very close chances from UBC's
Jasmin Dhanda and
Kym van Duynhoven almost resulted in goals but UFV goalkeeper Kayla Klim responded with two superb saves.
One of the visible changes from coach
Andrea Neil was activating the right side, which was inactive in the first half.
Amrit Berar was the secret weapon on the right side that became even more dangerous than the left, which has the very talented
Aman Shergill.
The Thunderbirds kept pushing by taking some outside-of-the box shots from
Jasmin Dhanda and
Amrit Berar but all failed to hit the target.
The first dangerous attack for UFV was in the 68th minute as UBC goalkeeper
Emily Wilson was forced to produce a great save to stop a long range shot from Shelby Beck.
In the 74th minute, a delicious cross from the Thunderbirds'
Meagan Pasternak just missed
Reetu Johal by inches. UFV replied in the 79th minute with a counterattack that produced a great chance from defender Karlee Petersen.
The last minutes saw both teams try a final push to steal the three points. In the 82nd minute, the Cascades midfielder Carley Radomsky had a great right-footed curved shot to the top corner that was barely saved by Thunderbirds goalkeeper Wilson. The Thunderbirds had their last chance at the 85th minute with a great shot by the left back Shergill but was unsuccessful. UFV almost stole the winning goal in injury time as striker Beck had a great effort that was saved by Wilson.
With the tie, UBC remains in fourth place in the Canada West Pacific Division with a 5-2-2 record. The draw moves UFV (7-1-1) into a second-place tie with the University of Victoria. The two teams will meet tomorrow in Abbotsford, B.C., while UBC will travel to Langley, B.C., for a date with No. 1 Trinity Western University. The T-Birds-Spartans match will kick off at 5 p.m.
