KAMLOOPS – A complete team defensive effort and an opportunistic goal combined to give the Thompson Rivers WolfPack women's soccer team a 1-0 win over the UBC Okanagan Heat inside Hillside Stadium Friday night.
 
Kamloops local Emily Clark scored her fourth of the season in the 70th minute while Marissa Young was outstanding in the final regular season home game of her WolfPack career making six saves on the night.
 
"We are super happy with the result, the performance was gritty and a testament to the team because they had to dig deep for that," said WolfPack head coach Mark Pennington.
 
Prior to the game TRU honoured three graduating players: Julia Burkart, Camryn Curts as well as Young and all three made sure to finish off their time with the 'Pack with a bang.
 
"We are beyond excited and happy for the fifth years. Marissa got a shutout, Cam put in a stellar performance and Julia got a solid 45 minutes in."
 
Molly Race made a pair of stops in the Heat net, with Sydney Kolodziej driving the offence throughout her 75 minutes of action.
 
TRU's victory moves them to 5-4-2 on the year, a mark that ties their record for wins in a season. The WolfPack leapfrog the UVic Vikes for fourth place in the Pacific Division with the potential to host the first Canada West playoff game in program history becoming closer to reality. The loss was a devastating one for UBCO who now slide to 2-6-3 on the year. With just three games left to play and sitting six points behind the fifth-place Vikes, they will need to win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
 
A back-and-forth first half finished how it started with neither team able to find the opening goal.
 
TRU fired four shots on net with Curts and Ainsley Grether unleashing a pair of long-range efforts but Race in the UBCO Heat net was up to the task.
 
The Head had the best chance to score in the half when Kolodziej went on a driving run and passed the ball to Sophie Campbell but her shot was stopped by a diving Young.
 
UBCO began to take control of the play early in the second frame and only more heroics from Young stopped the visitors from taking the lead in the 63rd minute.
 
Campbell slipped a ball forward to Kolodziej who was in all alone on Young but the fourth-year goalkeeper stood her ground and stopped both Koloziej's effort as well as Yvonne Manwaring on the rebound for the incredible double save.
 
The WolfPack found the game-winner with twenty minutes on the clock. Grether forced a turnover deep in Heat territory and played the ball through to a streaking Clark who made no mistake in sending the ball past a lunging Race.
 
"They're a good team and we know that. They move the ball really well but we kind of had a plan for it and that's where the goal came from," said Pennington. "We managed to jump them at the right time – win the ball in the right part of the field -  and credit to Ainsley for jumping in and winning the ball and then getting Clarkie into a goal-scoring space and Clarkie does what Clarkie does which is put the ball into the back of the net."
 
These rivals will do battle again tomorrow when they travel to Kelowna for the return fixture that gets underway at 3:30 p.m.