KAMLOOPS – A first career Canada West goal for
Maria Iannone helped the Thompson Rivers WolfPack women's soccer team pick up their first point of the young 2021 season in a 1-1 tie with the UBC Okanagan Heat on Sept. 18.
The WolfPack carried play for a majority of the game, outshooting UBCO by a tally of 12-3.
"I thought we were good value on the day. In the opening ten minutes we struggled, maybe just due to nerves but once we got going, I thought we controlled a majority of the game," said WolfPack head coach
Mark Pennington. "I think we out-chanced them and with a little bit better finishing at times we could have had a couple more."
Despite controlling the game, TRU was unable to find the breakthrough goal until Iannone's tally in the 70th minute of play.
Second-year midfielder
Rylee Mugridge caused a turnover in the middle of the field before
Sydney Sunderland played a perfectly weighted ball into the path of a rushing Iannone, who made no mistake to find the back of the net for the WolfPack's first goal of the season.
"We talk about trying to control their play out of the back and Muggsy got stuck in with a good tackle," said Pennington. "The ball went into our target player Gammie, then over to Syd and Syd played a great pass in-behind the defence – and that's what she does, Syd has the ability to see those passes – then Maria is a player who has been waiting for her chance and got her opportunity and really made it count, so I'm happy for her and I think that's the first goal of many for her."
That lead wouldn't last however, as just ten minutes later Holly Mullins finished off a nice passage of passing from the Heat, tucking the ball into the back of the net to make score 1-1.
The result runs the WolfPack's record to 0-2-1 on the season. They'll get the chance at another Interior rivalry meeting tomorrow when they take on the Heat in Kelowna with a scheduled kick-off of 1 p.m.
