Women’s Soccer
WSOC QF1: Defending champs open title defence with a win
The seventh-seeded UBC Thunderbirds edged the Ottawa Gee Gees 1-0 in the second game of the Women’s Soccer U SPORTS championship on Thursday in Kingston, Ont. UBC advanced to the semifinal round with the win.
Both teams showed good control and rhythm in the opening plays. UBC’s Jayda Thompson made good advances in the first half and took a breakaway shot which Juliann Lacasse saved in the 26th minute. As for Ottawa, Jenna Matsukubo and her speed caused problems for the Thunderbirds as she got three shots off in the first half.
Then, in the 30th minute, UBC took a strike and this time it went through. With an assist from Taiya Dennehy, Katalin Tolnai found the back of the net for the first goal of the game.
In the second half, Tolnai, the U SPORTS women’s soccer player of the year, continued her assault on Ottawa with a spin move in the box to clear her defender, but her shot landed just wide and hit the post. A few minutes later she took another which the post stopped again. Despite these misses, however, UBC held onto their lead with no more goals scored by either team in the second half.
UBC’s Dakota Beckett kept a clean sheet with the win totaling seven saves in the 1-0 UBC victory.
This win sends UBC to the semifinals round where they will play Montreal at 4 p.m. Eastern. On Friday, Ottawa will play at 11 a.m. in a consolation game.
Nike Team players of the game:
- UBC: Katalin Tolnai
- Ottawa: Jenna Matsukubo