KAMLOOPS – The Thompson Rivers WolfPack women's soccer team will split the points with the UFV Cascades Friday night, after the two teams played to a 1-1 tie in Abbotsford.
 
"The girls showed spirit and fight which is what we ask for," said WolfPack head coach Mark Pennington. "The flow of the game petered out a bit but that's now four games undefeated with another newcomer into the lineup scoring a goal so we're happy with that."
 
Rookie Kat Stewart scored the second goal of her WolfPack career for TRU while fellow first year Berea Woldeyes picked up the assist. Brooklynn Franzon responded for the Cascades who managed to erase an early 1-0 TRU lead.
 
TRU outshot Fraser Valley 11-8 in the contest, forcing Kareena Sahota to make five saves with Cassandra De Amaral making a pair for TRU.
 
"We had an idea of what to expect and we had a plan, I don't know if we've stuck to the plan as well as we have in the last little while but credit to UFV they're very organized and make it really difficult to play," said Pennington.
 
Stewart opened the scoring 30 minutes into the game. Woldeyes sent a looping ball into the Cascades' 18-yard box where Ainsley Grether battled with Sahota resulting in the ball falling perfectly into the path of Stewart just inside the penalty area and the product of Oshawa made no mistake in powering it into the net.
 
Franzon scored the equalizer for UFV right before halftime with a long-range effort that snuck just past a diving De Amaral and inside the post.
 
The teams traded chances in the second half with both defences doing a good job of limiting the goal-scoring opportunities.
 
TRU had the best chance to win right at the 90th minute but Anika Black's blast from 30 yards out rang off the crossbar and away from danger.
 
For the 'Pack it was rookies Stewart and Woldeyes who scored the points while fellow rookie Amaya Heyes came on as a substitute and played well in the middle of the field.
 
"Amaya came into a really tough game at a tough time and I thought she gave us good minutes," said Pennington. "Kat Stewart showed her quality and Berea played a good 90 minutes so we are really happy with what they're giving us and we are hoping that they continue to grow."
 
The WolfPack travel to Langley tomorrow for a game against Trinity Western at 5 p.m. with plenty on the line. TRU is currently 4-4-2 on the season and three points behind the UVic Vikes for the fifth and final playoff spot in the Canada West Pacific Division with four games left to play.