KAMLOOPS – They threw attack after attack at their opponents but the Thompson Rivers WolfPack women's soccer team couldn't catch a break in a 2-1 loss to the Saskatchewan Huskies Saturday.
"I said to the team after the game that that's just soccer for you unfortunately," said WolfPack head coach
Mark Pennington. "On the day we couldn't get a bounce and a couple went against us. I thought the girls worked hard, they carried out our game plan to perfection, I couldn't be more proud with how they played but the soccer gods were just not on our side today."
TRU outshot Saskatchewan 10-6 in the game.
Esi Lufo supplied the WolfPack goal with the first of her TRU career while
Hawan Abdissa provided the assist in what was the first action of the season for the Calgary product.
Nammi Nguyen and Hailey Weber responded for the host Huskies.
The WolfPack dominated the proceedings early with Lufo,
Ainsley Grether and
Caylah Lemon all creating strong scoring opportunities only to be denied by Kalin Robers in the Huskie net.
Despite outshooting Saskatchewan 7-2 at the half, the game remained scoreless through the opening 45 minutes.
Saskatchewan struck first against the run of play when Nguyen sent in a corner kick that sailed beyond the WolfPack defence and curled into the top corner of the net for the opening tally.
TRU responded just minutes later.
Abdissa dribbled around a pair of Huskie defenders before playing a ball into the box that Lufo controlled beautifully and then powered into the back of the net to open her TRU scoring account.
"Ainsley and Lufo created some really good chances, I thought Lufo was the most dominant player on the field today so we'll take those positives, look to build on them and keep moving forwards," said Pennington.
The two teams traded chances throughout the rest of the game but it was Saskatchewan that managed to take the lead. A free-kick into the WolfPack's 18-yard box bounced off multiple legs before trickling into the back of the net.
The WolfPack now hold a record of 2-4 on the year and will look to get back into the win column when they face the 1-1-3 Regina Cougars tomorrow in Regina. That game gets underway at 11 a.m. PT and can be watched live on canadawest.tv.