VANCOUVER – The fourth-ranked UBC Thunderbirds women's soccer team defeated the Fraser Valley Cascades (8-4-1) on Friday night with a crucial 2-1 victory at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver.
 
The win means that tomorrow night's match against Trinity Western (10-1-2), commencing at 5 p.m. at Thunderbird Stadium, will decide first place in the Pacific Division.
 
The first half of Friday's match was ripe with solid defence from both clubs. With only three shots recorded in the first 45, all coming from UBC, it was clear that the opening goal would be a big one.
 
Jasmin Dhanda (Surrey, B.C.) was responsible for two of UBC's attempts. Her first two shots were denied by solid efforts from UFV goalkeeper Kayla Klim. Speeding up the wing in the 40th minute, Dhana fired her third attempt at the net, but it sailed just wide.
 
The 'Birds kept the pressure on in the closing minutes of the first. Krista Whittaker (Nanaimo, B.C.), off a corner feed from Taylor Shannik (Delta, B.C.), nearly lobbed a header overtop of Klim, but her save kept things knotted at nil-nil heading into the break.  
 
Armit Berar (Richmond, B.C.) was awarded a penalty kick in the 54^th minute, but her shot sailed just over the net.
 
Berar didn't wait long to get her redemption following the missed penalty kick. Less than two minutes later, she netted the game's opening goal, her sixth of the season, giving the Thunderbirds the lead.
 
Dhanda finally found her way around Klim in the 58th minute. Taking advantage of a nice pass from Shannik, Dhanda sped down the centre of the field, weaved her way around multiple UFV defenders and tucked the ball into the low left corner of the net, giving UBC a 2-0 lead.
 
Dhanda noted that a change in the teams playing style in the second half helped the 'Birds find their scoring groove.
 
"The through balls, like my goal from behind the backline, those work best for our team," she said. "At the beginning we were trying a few long balls and that wasn't working."
 
The Cascades responded quickly. In the 66th minute, UBC goalkeeper Olivia de Goede (Victoria, B.C.) made a fabulous diving save, but it deflected the ball right to UFV forward Monika Levarsky, who was roaming out front and provided UFV with a much-needed first goal.
 
UFV was unable to generate enough offensive pressure in the later part of the game to tie things up.
 
Looking ahead tomorrow's matchup against Trinity Western, Dhanda emphasized the importance of getting an early lead when playing a club as offensively dominant as the Spartans.
 
"Trinity is another really strong team, hopefully we get some early goals…and we will have some momentum after that."