Box Score The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack women's soccer team have recorded their second victory of the Canada West season.
The WolfPack went into Kelowna, BC and got two goals in the first half en route to a 2-0 win over the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat.
Thompson Rivers moves to 2-6-3 on the year while UBCO drops to 1-10.
It was the opener of the President's Cup series between the two schools. The teams will play again Saturday (Oct 12) in Kamloops in the WolfPack's final home match of the 2019-20 Canada West season.
SYNOPSIS
The WolfPack played a controlled first half and their pressure paid off in the 20
th minute as they forced a turnover by the Heat defence and the ball wound up in the back of the net behind UBCO keeper Emma Terrillion (2
nd year, North Vancouver, BC).
Thompson Rivers went up by two at 23:48.
Rylee Mugridge (1
st year, midfield, Maple Ridge, BC) started the play on the left side. There was a scramble in front of the Heat goal and
Marisa Mendonca (5
th year, midfield, Penticton, BC) dug the ball out and went to her right and put the ball low right side for her first of the season. Mendonca had four shots on goal in the first half to lead TRU.
The Pack had 12 shots in the opening stanza with seven of them reaching the net.
Taylor Miller (5
th year, midfield, Kamloops, BC) had three of them-all on goal.
Chantal Gammie (2
nd year, forward, Smithers, BC) had two shots on goal in the first half.Thompson Rivers had four corners in the first half.
The Heat got most of the offensive chances in the second half and had nine shots to TRU's two. Seven of their nine shots were saved by WolfPack keeper
Danielle Robertson (3
rd year, Courtenay, BC) who notched her second clean sheet of the year.
.
COMMENTS BY COACH MARK PENNINGTON:
"Great win on the road. Good to get three points. I thought the girls pulled off the plan. We knew we were playing against a good team that likes to pass the ball. I thought we did a good job of allowing them to play in certain parts of the field. The two goals came from Marisa Mendonca . Good for her to get on the scoresheet. The first one deflected shot that she hit. It deflected off their center back into the net. The second was a really good piece of individual skill in the box at a time we needed a bit of quality. She solved the defender with a 'dummy' and poked it in the bottom corner. A well deserved 2-nil victory. I thought in the first half we deserved the score line. In the second half, we struggled a bit to get to pressure. Some resilience. We got back into the game and made it tough for them to break us down. We got out of it with a shutout. We are happy because we don't get many of them….our second one. Danny Robertson played the entire match in goal. Credit to her and the back four. They were really really strong all night. Cassie Morris was really really good at the back. Her presence, her timing, her organization was really good. Taylor Miller and Gammie (Chantal) were a thorn in their side up front. Miller was unlucky for not getting us a third goal in the second half. We will regroup and come up with a plan and prepare to play against this same group on Saturday."
THE STATS:
GOAL SCORING SUMMARY:
Thompson Rivers
20:00 -TRU capitalizes on its pressure and UBCO scores an own goal. TRU 1 UBCO 0
23:48- TRU-
Marisa Mendonca (5
th year, midfield, Penticton, BC) . Her first goal of the year. TRU 2 UBCO 0
UBCO:
None
UP NEXT:
Thompson Rivers and UBCO will play the back half of their home and home set on Saturday (Oct 12). It's a noon kick off PDT from Warner Rentals field at Hillside Stadium. At half time, The WolfPack will honor its three fifth year players: Mendonca,
Natalie Verdiel (defender, Powell River, BC) and
Taylor Miller (midfield, Kamloops, BC).
The WolfPack will close out their Canada West regular season the following weekend (Oct 18-19) as they visit the UFV Cascades on Friday in Abbotsford, BC and then the Trinity Western Spartans on Saturday in Langley, BC.
All of the above games can been seen on a pay per view basis on
www.CanadaWesttv.
