Cassandra De Amaral
2
Winner Trinity Western TWU (1-0-0, 1-0-0)
1
Thompson Rivers TRU (0-2-0, 0-2-0)
Winner
Trinity Western TWU
(1-0-0, 1-0-0)
2
Final
1
Thompson Rivers TRU
(0-2-0, 0-2-0)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Trinity Western TWU 1 1 2
Thompson Rivers TRU 1 0 1

Game Recap: Women's Soccer | | TRU WolfPack

Heartbreak at Hillside as No. 3 Spartans edge out WolfPack

QUICK FIRE
  • They were tied through all 90 minutes of regulation time, but the Thompson Rivers WolfPack women's soccer team came up just shy of capturing a well-earned tie in a 2-1 loss at the hands of the Trinity Western Spartans Friday night.
     
DIFFERENCE MAKERS
  • Alexis Virgo scored the first goal of the year for TRU with Bella Geremia earning an assist. Cassandra De Amaral made four stops in net for TRU.
  • Payton Izsak and Sophie Crowther both scored for TWU with Crowther's strike coming 93 minutes into the contest.

HOW IT HAPPENED
  • It took just two minutes of play for the WolfPack to strike. Buoyed by a near-capacity crowd inside Hillside, the 'Pack came out of the gates roaring and were rewarded when Geremia sent in a corner kick that Virgo expertly met with a left-footed strike that flew into the back of the net.
  • The Spartans equalized just ten minutes later. Kyle Hendricks let go a shot towards net, a WolfPack defender flung themselves in front of it but the ricochet landed right on the foot of Izsak who buried the ball to knot the game back up.
  • TRU was the better team throughout the rest of the first half and came close to scoring on multiple occasions. Esi Lufo, Raiya Rumo and Geremia all had great chances to re-take the lead but Yasmine Pahal stood tall in the Spartan net to send the game into halftime tied 1-1.
  • With the Spartans having more of the run of play in the second half, it was De Amaral's turn to play hero as the fourth-year goalkeeper shut down Charity Field on a breakaway in the 66th minute.
  • It appeared the 'Pack were headed towards a well-deserved draw before Veronica Walter was sprung in on the WolfPack net. De Amaral made a sprawling stop but the rebound fell to Crowther who made no mistake to give TWU the victory.

NOTABLE
  • Just shy of 1000 fans packed inside Hillside Stadium for the WolfPack's home opener.
  • The goal was the fourth in the WolfPack career of defender Alexis Virgo.
  • TRU was close to earning their second-ever - and second consecutive on home field – tie with Trinity Western.
  • TWU is the reigning CW Champion and U SPORTS Silver Medallist.
 
QUOTABLE (TRU head coach, Mark Pennington)
  • I think the word is heartbreaking. We just showed that we can run with the number two team in the country for 90 minutes and barring a bit of luck the outcome could have been different.
  • It was a good game, so we'll take the positives and move forward. It feels a bit raw right now but we'll dust ourselves off.
  • I couldn't be more proud of the effort from every single one of our girls. They were playing through the heat and the effort was outstanding from everyone.
  • Some players didn't get on the field and I always feel bad about that but the energy from our bench was great so we'll regroup and hopefully put on a performance tomorrow.
  • On the effectiveness of the team's set pieces tonight. "It's something we talk about and something that we want to be good that. The service has been good, the timing has been good. We scored a good goal and barring a good save we might have had another one, so we'll continue to keep working on them and today showed that we can be really dangerous from our set pieces.
UP NEXT
  • The 'Pack will be back at Hillside tomorrow night (Saturday September 7) for a game against the UFV Cascades that gets underway at 7 p.m.
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