Women’s Soccer
WSOC QF2: UBC edges Ottawa to advance to semifinals
The top-seeded Laval Rouge et Or beat the Western Mustangs 2-0 in the third quarterfinal at the 2023 U SPORTS Women’s Soccer Championship on Thursday in Kingston, Ont.
The match was aggressive with both teams getting multiple shots off, but Anne-Marie Laroche’s dominance in the net kept Laval’s sheet clean in the win.
In the fourth minute, Laval opened the scoring with a shot from Mathilde Rousseau. For the rest of the half Western responded with a barrage of their own and got a few good shots off. Laroche, however, dominated her box with huge stops each time.
Both teams played an aggressive first half, and even though Western did a good job of keeping the ball out of their end, Laval’s few through balls were brilliant. In the final minutes of the half, Lea-Jeanne Fortier of the Rouge et Or dropped a perfect cross to First-Team All-Canadian Daphnée Blouin who put in Laval’s second goal of the game.
In the second half both teams kept up the pressure but even their continued aggression didn’t spot either team another goal. The play ended 2-0 for Laval after a hard-fought battle on both ends.
Laval will play next in their semi-final game at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Western’s consolation semi-final will be at 1:30 p.m. on Friday as well.
Nike Team players of the game:
- Laval: Alexandra Doucet
- Western: Avaries Thomas