VICTORIA – The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds struck late to sink the University of Victoria Vikes 1-0 on Thursday night at Centennial Stadium giving the visitors a third consecutive victory with just three games remaining in the Canada West campaign.
After carrying the play much of the second half, the Thunderbirds delivered the dagger in the 88
th minute when
Nisa Reehal tapped in a cross from
Marisa Mastropieri, breaking the scoreless outing.
The T-birds kept coming in waves in the second half.
Vikes' keeper Puck Louwes was on her game after only being required for a pair of saves in the first.
Alyssa Hunt created space anytime she touched the ball in the midfield, aggressively pushed the pace and fired several strikes on target. Reehal had a chance earlier to put the T-birds up one when launched a strike from distance but was stopped by a diving Louwes.
The Vikes still found their moments and took their turn putting the heat on the Thunderbirds.
Natalie Cavallin forced a turnover near midfield in the 61
st minute with plenty of room to run in the Thunderbirds' zone. She set up Kiara Kilbey in tight, but the play was cleanly broken up by
Jessica Williams.
In the 72
nd minute,
Amelia Crawford sent a cross a shot from near the goal line, but Louwes dove to her right to make the save.
Fresh into the game, Presley Rangel took a feed from Kennedy Martin at midfield and tried to loft in the potential game winner in the 83
rd minute, but her attempt sailed high.
It was a tough way to go for the Vikes (5-3-3) after they displayed good energy in the first half on home field.
Fifth-year forward Kilbey launched a strike from the middle of the 18-yard box but she was denied with a diving save from Thunderbirds' Victoria product
Emily Moore.
The Thunderbirds thought they bagged a goal in the 32
nd minute off a free kick by
Tess McRae. The ball trickled into the goal crease and Hunt was the last T-bird to get a boot on it before it poured over the goal line, but the play was immediately blown dead, as she was offside.
Less than a minute before half,
Emma Peckinpaugh took a corner for the Thunderbirds (7-1-3). Her shot pinballed around several times before eventually getting jammed overtop the net by Hunt.
The two sides resume this home-and-home Legends Cup series Saturday afternoon at Thunderbird Stadium. Kickoff goes at 5 p.m. Catch all the action on
www.canadawest.tv, presented by CO-OP.
