Fraser Valley (Jordie Arthur) – Women’s Soccer: White’s first half strike leads Heat past Cascades
Amanda White’s first half goal lifted the UBC Okanagan Heat past the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades in women’s soccer action on Friday night.
The loss sees the Cascades’ five game unbeaten run come to an end as they drop to 0-2-5 on the season. The Heat see their record improve to 2-2-3 with the win.
The Cascades controlled the bulk of the play in the first half, but it was UBCO’s Amanda White who opened the scoring with her fourth goal of the season in the 33rd minute.
Both teams threatened with chances in the second half but were unable to change the score line.
White’s winner would hold up as UBCO’s only shot on target during the match, while UFV tallied four shots on goal.
UFV head coach Niko Marcina applauded his team’s defensive effort despite the result on the day.
“We knew they were going to maintain very good possession of the ball, but we set up an action plan to eliminate goal scoring opportunities and I thought for the majority of the game we did a very good job of that.”
“They only had one shot on goal, but credit to them for getting it past our back line and punishing us.”
The Cascades are back in action on Saturday with a visit to the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack (5:30 p.m. on canadawest.tv), while the Heat will host the Trinity Western Spartans on Saturday afternoon.
“We are going to be up against a tough opponent in tomorrow’s match”, Marcina noted, “so we are trying not to reflect on the negatives and instead move forward focusing on what we are doing well and trying our best to finish our opportunities when they become present to us.”
Men’s Soccer: Richardson’s late goal earns Cascades draw with Golden Bears
Abbotsford, BC – Taylor Richardson scored a stunning 96th minute goal to pull the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades level for a 3-3 tie with the visiting University of Alberta Golden Bears on Friday night.
With the draw UFV moves to 2-4-1 on the year, while Alberta remains undefeated this season at 3-0-5.
The Golden Bears opened the scoring in the 34th minute as Habib Assem finished off a feed from Janko Vong.
UFV responded just before the half time whistle, as Manpal Brar managed to get loose in the box, and after his initial shot was saved the ball rebounded back off Brar and trickled across the line.
The Cascades struck first in the second half, as Ivan Mejia created some space in midfield and found Jeevan Dhaliwal streaking into the box. His shot was saved, but the rebound found its way to Richardson who smashed it home for his first of the campaign.
Ibrahim Jetishi squared the match for the Golden Bears in the 67th minute, finishing it off the left post after a pair of incisive passes cut through the UFV lines.
Alberta was not done there, as Garry Onyejelem earned his team a penalty, and David Chung made no mistake blasting the PK into the UFV goal in the 74th minute.
Just four minutes later the Cascades were awarded a penalty of their own after a scramble in the box. Ivan Mejia stepped up to take it, but saw his attempt saved by Alberta goalkeeper Chris Ezoua.
Jetishi found himself in trouble in the 81st minute, as the Golden Bears player was shown a second yellow card for a mistimed challenge.
The Cascades pushed to find an equalizer against the 10-man Alberta squad, and it was Richardson again who would become the hero. He gathered the ball at the top of the box in the 97th minute, and lasered a left footed shot into the top-left corner to salvage his team a point on the night.
“It was a nail biter right until the last minute. I wasn’t really thinking much, just had to touch and get it out of my feet and then get the shot off and it turned out pretty well” said Richardson post-game.
“It’s good to get the monkey off my back and get a couple goals in. The boys had a lot of fight today. They found me in the right spaces, and I got the ball in the net.”
The Cascades are back in action next week as they visit UBC Okanagan on Friday, and Thompson Rivers University on Saturday.
“It will be another tough weekend” Cascades head coach Tom Lowndes noted about the schedule next week, “They are two tough places to play, and we are going to have to be up for the fight again.”
