Abbotsford — The UFV Cascades women’s soccer team needed only a single goal tonight to get their sixth consecutive win, defeating the TRU WolfPack 1-0 on home turf. The two teams have now faced each other twice this season, with the Cascades prevailing in each meeting (UFV won 2-1 on Sept 13 at TRU). The WolfPack have yet to win a game this season and sit at 0-5, while the Cascades are holding onto first place in the Pacific division with a 6-1 record.
The Cascades looked most dangerous in the first half, and capitalized early on the chemistry between strikers Shelby Beck and Monika Levarsky. A rush on the right side of the pitch devolved into some triangular passing between the two strikers as well as midfielder Sunayna Samra, before suddenly transforming into a scoring play as Samra slipped a pass between two defenders to Levarsky. In on net, the Cascades striker put a low shot past TRU keeper Emily Edmundson and just inside the left post.
That moment of genius was all UFV needed to grab the lead, but it was a testament to the TRU defense that the next 81 minutes failed to provide any further scoring. The ball skidded across the wet artificial turf like a puck on ice, bouncing off feet and bodies alike, but it never again tasted mesh before the final whistle. In the dwindling minutes of the second half the WolfPack pushed back the majority of the UFV pressure and mustered a few solid strikes of their own from mid-range, but Cascades keeper Kayla Klim was always equal to the task. Not very busy but extremely vocal, Klim partnered with central defender Dayle Jeras to organize the back line and keep UFV from retreating too far into a protectionist mentality.
Edmundson had nine saves in the game, while Klim made two. Cascades strikers Levarsky and Beck are now tied for the Cascades scoring lead with four goals apiece, and have combined for eight of UFV’s 12 goals this season.
“We had a great start to the game,” said Cascades coach Rob Giesbrecht. “That’s one of the things that has plagued us this year is slow starts, and the girls came out flying … I think we still played well after the goal, but in the final third we were still lacking that bit of quality to finish off games. TRU is a good side. They’re an athletic team, they’re a veteran team, and they’re not easy to beat”
The Cascades will play the UBCO Heat tomorrow (Sept 27) at 5 pm at Abby Senior in Abbotsford. The WolfPack will travel to TWU tomorrow to take on the Spartans, also at 5 pm. All games will be streamed with live video and stats at http://canadawest.tv
Comments are closed.