Floor Ursem
Jordie Arthur / UFV Athletics
0
Thompson Rivers TRU (2-0-2, 2-0-2)
0
UFV UFV (1-2-1, 1-2-1)
Thompson Rivers TRU
(2-0-2, 2-0-2)
0
Final
0
UFV UFV
(1-2-1, 1-2-1)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Thompson Rivers TRU 0 0 0
UFV UFV 0 0 0

Game Recap: Women's Soccer | | TRU WolfPack

Another clean sheet for defensively sound WolfPack in tie with UFV

QUICK FIRE
  • Make it a program-best four straight games without a defeat to start a Canada West season for a Thompson Rivers WolfPack women's soccer team that played the UFV Cascades to a 0-0 tie in Abbotsford Saturday evening.

DIFFERENCE MAKERS
  • Floor Ursem, a member of the U SPORTS All-Rookie Team last year, was once again perfect for the 'Pack. The product of Uitgeest, NED made seven stops to record her third shutout of the season. The entire WolfPack backline was more than solid for TRU in the game, highlighted by Alexis Virgo, Sara Kuusimaki, and rookie Lily Pickell.
  • Alana Madec made seven stops for the Cascades.
     
HOW IT HAPPENED
  • Scoring chances were at a premium in a first half that saw neither team able to take the lead. Ursem made three comfortable saves as the backline held the UFV attack at bay while the WolfPack's best chances came through Kat Stewart. First, in the 23rd minute ,Esi Lufo showed off some quick feet to maneuver past a pair of defenders in the UFV penalty area before sending a ball to Stewart but her lunging effort rolled just wide of the net. Stewart again threatened the UFV net in the 33rd minute of play but her long-range effort was deflected by a Cascades defender and sent past the post.
  • That same pattern carried forward to a second half that again did nothing to separate the two teams.
  • Lufo and Laila Rafou both had chances early in the second frame. Lufo got on the end of a corner kick goalmouth scramble in the 59th minute but her effort was stopped by Madec. Rafou came close to scoring her first of the season after Makenna Ford played a nice ball to her inside the 18-yard box, but Rafou's blast went just over the cross bar.
  • Ursem made her best stop of the game in the 75th minute of play. A great individual effort by Emerson Toop saw the Cascades forward unleash a shot from just outside the WolfPack six-yard box but Ursem showcased incredibly smooth hands to not only snag the ball out of the air, but also hold on to it to not allow any rebound opportunities.
  • The WolfPack ratcheted up the pressure late, dominating the latter portion of the game. Stewart, Rafou and Juli La Rotta all worked hard to create good chances but none were able to find the back of the net.
NOTABLE
  • With two wins and two ties to start the season, this marks the first time that TRU has ever started a Canada West season undefeated through their opening four games.
  • Ursem now has three shutouts through the opening four games of the season for TRU. The WolfPack's program single season record is four.
  • Both teams had seven shots on goal in the game.

QUOTABLE (WolfPack head coach Mark Pennington)
  • "We'll take the positives. It's another point on the road after a pretty gruelling road trip with a really fast turnaround from last night to today."
  • "I thought we were the aggressors, which we wanted to be. We created a couple opportunities but just lacked that bit of quality in the attacking third which was the difference between a draw and a win."
  • "We will go into the bye weekend undefeated and having only conceded one goal from the penalty spot in our first four games as the positives. We are second in the division after the opening weekends so that's always a positive."
  • ON WHAT HAS LED TO UNDEFEATED START "I think we've defended well. Barring a last minute penalty called at UBCO we would be at four clean sheets in four games. That defensive effort has been our foundation."  

UP NEXT
  • After four-straight road games to start the season the WolfPack will have a bye next week before finally playing their first game of the season at Hillside Stadium on Friday, Sept. 25 at 5:30 p.m.
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