VANCOUVER, B.C. – A
Holly Whelan wonder goal set UBC Thunderbirds on their way to a sixth straight victory in the defense of the U SPORTS women's soccer champions at Thunderbird Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Whelan's 36th minute Olimpico, a goal straight from a corner, gave UBC the 1-0 lead at the half. A second half own goal from Kenzie Fitzgerald, who sliced in a
Sofia Peckenpaugh shot, saw the Thunderbirds doubled their lead in the 54th minute before
Jade Taylor-Ryan rounded off the scoring in the 89th minute to give UBC a commanding 3-0 victory over the visiting University of Fraser Valley Cascades.
"They came with a plan to try and keep it close," UBC head coach
Jesse Symons said of the match. "We were able to find three goals and score a late one as well that I thought was a really good goal.
"We weren't as ruthless as Friday night and didn't get into the spaces as well as we wanted to and expected to today, but UFV worked hard to close space and sit in a low block and stay there.
UBC outshot their opponents 17 to 3, with UFV unable to get any shots on target in a slow-paced match. A good test for the Thunderbirds of some potential playoff games to come.
"A low block slows games down a bit," Symons said. "We were kind of just living in front of them a little too much. I told them after that this could be a playoff game where we need to break teams down that are going to sit low and this was a good opportunity to get some film on a team that wants to get compact, stay tight, and not really attack against us."
UBC dominated the first half play, in a slow-paced match that saw UFV struggle to get any offense going. The Cascades were strong defensively, however, not allowing the Thunderbirds any room to get many shots through on goal.
Jade Taylor-Ryan was denied by a good stop from Cascades keeper Alana Madec in the 15th minute, with UFV responding with a dipping effort from Emerson Toop five minutes later.
UBC came within inches of taking the lead in the 21st minute, but
Taiya Dennehy's fierce strike crashed off the crossbar from just inside the box.
The breakthrough finally came in the 36th minute and it took a special goal to get it, with Whelan's in-swinging corner going through the hands of Madec and into the back of the Cascades net.
UBC doubled their advantage nine minutes into the second half.
Olivia Gomez sent the ball up the wing for
Bailey Doerksen, who cut it back beautifully for Peckenpaugh. The rookie's first time shot was on target, but Fitzgerald was only able to slice the ball into her own net while trying to clear the danger.
The Thunderbirds continued to dominate and
Sienna Gibson came within inches of making it three, with her low effort from the edge of the box just whizzing past the right post in the 66th minute.
Zoe Black fired wide for the Cascades in the 86th minute, in a rare foray forward, before Taylor-Ryan removed any question of a UFV fightback in the 89th minute, when Doerksen ran onto an excellent through ball before rounding the keeper and centering it for the Taylor-Ryan to tap in her first of the season and seal the 3-0 victory.
UBC travel into the interior next weekend for matches with the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack in Kamloops on Friday night and then a visit to Kelowna to take on the UBCO Heat the following evening. UFV will be on the road again, traveling to Vancouver Island to take on the UVic Vikes on Friday night, before a long trip east to face the Mount Royal Cougars in Calgary next Sunday.
