VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds women's soccer team extended its winning streak to three games by shutting out the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack 4-0 on Friday at Hillside Stadium in Kamloops, B.C.
BOX SCORE"It took a little while to get into a rhythm but after some adjustment to the environment we started to play better," said UBC head coach
Andrea Neil. "I like the way they adapted well. We started slow but we started to gain confidence."
The T-Birds tallied twice in the first half: first by
Amrit Berar, and later by veteran
Taylor Shannik. The scoring parade continued into the second after
Nicole Sydor scored within 10 minutes of the restart, and
Shayla Chorney's goal that would end the match.
The teams battled windy conditions which resulted in a fairly even game play during the first 15 minutes of the contest. However, the Thunderbirds constant pressure allowed Berar, in the 16th minute, to score off an assist from Shannik on the right side. This strike opened up scoring opportunities for the T-Birds, and Shannik doubled the UBC advantage in the 28th when she scored her second goal of the year on a header off a cross from Meaghan Pasternak.
The T-Birds continued to dominate into the second after Sydor found the net on a high shot to make it 3-0 just 10 minutes after halftime. The assist went to
Jasmin Dhanda. Although the second saw a bit more action from the WolfPack on UBC's side of the field, the visitors added one more goal, by captain
Shayla Chorney, in the 87th minute.
UBC led the way in shots, creating 23 opportunities to TRU's three. With UBC's possession, T-Birds goalkeeper
Emily Wilson did not see much action. It wasn't until the last three minutes of game play that the WolfPack were able to break through the T-Birds tight defence and get their one shot on net for the match.
Neil gave credit to two veterans, Kym van Duynhoven and Krista Whittaker, for being steady influences."They are two big players for us," she said. "Krista has stepped up admirably to organize the back line. Kym has stepped into that role as well. We need that strength in the middle." The T-Birds (3-2-0) will continue on the road by playing UBC Okanagan on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Nonis Sports Field in Kelowna, B.C.
- with files from Larry Read (Thompson Rivers Sports Information)
