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You didn't have to ask Thompson Rivers University WolfPack women's soccer head coach Tom McManus how he felt about the result of Sunday's (Oct 4) BC College Athletic Association match with the UBCO Heat. You could read it on his face.
The first year bench boss was disappointed. His squad carried the play for most of the 90 minutes but wound up tying UBCO at 1. That put the WolfPack's record at 5 wins, two losses and two ties. The Heat stand with four wins, three losses and three ties.
"Very frustrating," McManus said. "We dominated like we did yesterday (Sat Oct 3) in Kelowna. To come away with a 1-1 draw is very frustrating."
The WolfPack had chances as early as five minutes to take the lead. Heather Lloyd (3rd year, forward, Kamloops, BC) got a through ball and barely missed the net. It set the stage for the type of game Lloyd would have. She had a number of great opportunities to cash in but either put the ball wide of the cage or was thrwarted by Heat keeper Sabrina Gasparac (2nd year, Langley, BC).
Ironically, it was UBCO who drew first blood. In the 14 th minute, forward Alexa Kennedy (2nd year, Kelowna, BC) was able to head the ball out of a scramble in front of TRU keeper Shannen Meyer (4th year, Kamloops, BC). Meyer looked like she was in position to make the save, but the gusty winds send the ball in the opposite direction. Meyer was playing her second straight match in the nets. Both of TRU's regular keepers (1st years Richelle McDonald (Cranbrook, BC) and Taryn MacDougall (Langley, BC) were still recovering from the flu).
Gasparac was peppered in the first half, making five stops in a five minute time period. One of those was on a great run by WolfPack forward Cassie Drummond (2nd year, Kamloops, BC) who took it from about 40 yards out, dipsy doodled through three Heat defenders but was unable to get a good shot away.
TRU tied the match in he 28 th minute when Lloyd was hauled down in the 18 yard box. That resulted in a penalty shot. After what seemed like an eternity to measure out the correct yardage, sweeper Jessie Lebert (2nd year, Kamloops, BC) beat Gasparac top right side to even things up.
The 2nd half was completely dominated by TRU. "But we didn't take the shots when we should have or we took them from too far away, which was ridiculous."
SIDELINES: The WolfPack play the rest of the BCCAA schedule on the road starting Sunday (Oct 11) in Prince George against UNBC. Midfielder Kelsey Callender (2nd year, Williams Lake, BC) was named the TRU Bookstore Leader of the Pack player of the match.
Drummond had some extra people cheering her on. A group of seniors from the Shores Retirement Community on the Kamloops North Shore came to the Tournament Capital Center to see her play. Cassie works at the Shores. She and many of her teammates paid them a visit in a special room rented by the WolfPack so they could enjoy the game afterwards.
The WolfPack have one more match at Hillside Stadium. Its Thursday October 15 th at 5 pm when the Simon Fraser Clan visit for an exhibition tilt.
