W-SOCCER ROUNDUP: Nationally-ranked Golden Hawks soar to consecutive wins
WATERLOO, Ont. – The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women’s soccer team scored four second half goals en route to a 5-0 win over the Windsor Lancers in their home opener at University Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
(Photo Credit: Thomas Kolodziej)
Saturday, August 30
Windsor 0 @ Laurier 5
WATERLOO, Ont. – The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women's soccer team scored four second half goals en route to a 5-0 win over the Windsor Lancers in their home opener at University Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
After last season's OUA leading scorer Emily Brown of Waterloo, Ont., gave them a 1-0 lead at halftime, halftime substitutes Julie Maheu of Oakville, Ont., and Julie Karn of Kitchener, Ont., scored three minutes apart to give the Hawks complete control of the contest.
Brown would go on to add a second goal in the 70th minute before University of Central Florida transfer Maxine Murchie of Kitchener, Ont., scored her first goal in a Laurier uniform in the 85th minute to round out the scoring.
Brown and Murchie gave the Lancers fits up front all game as Murchie had eight shots, including three on goal, while Brown had five, four of which found the target.
Maggie Carmichael of Orono, Ont., picked up the victory in goal for the Hawks as she made two saves for her first clean sheet of the campaign. Tara Bernard-Rae of Mississauga, Ont., took the loss for the Lancers, stopping two of the seven shots she faced.
Laurentian 0 @ Toronto 0
TORONTO – The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's soccer team opened their 2014 regular season campaign with a 0-0 draw versus the Laurentian Voyageurs on Saturday, August 30 at Varsity Centre.
The game marked the beginning of the 30th season in women's soccer program history at the University of Toronto. Since 1985, the Blues have accumulated a 182-89-70 regular season record, and remain in search of their first OUA title.
U of T controlled the play in the first half and ended the game with 14 shots, six of which were on net. Laurentian tallied six total shots, four that found the net.
The Blues best scoring chance of the first half came in the 34th minute when second-year striker Brenda Murillo (Richmond, B.C. ) received a through pass from Claudia Piazza (Brampton, Ont), but her shot rang off the side of the net.
Laurentian fired right back in the 40th minute as rookie striker Sarah Sanford (Napanee, Ont.) came streaking down the left side of the field and booted a shot on net, but U of T netminder Sara Petrucci (Bolton, Ont.) made a diving save to keep the game even.
In the 44th minute, Piazza was denied by Voyageurs goalkeeper Richele Greenwood (Mississauga, Ont.) and Olivia Gonsalves' (Scarborough) rebound sailed wide of the net. The game remained scoreless at half.
The Voyageurs put on the pressure early in the second and both teams traded chances. Blues striker Christine Zwimpfer (North Vancouver, B.C.) attempted to rally the troops in the 64th minute, but Laurentian responded with a good chance in the 65th off a Julie Lopez corner kick.
In the 73rd minute, Sanford had a clear shot on the U of T goal, but U of T defender Emma Ostermeier cleared the ball out of harm's way.
The Blues were rewarded a couple of free kicks deep in Voyageurs territory in the 81st minute, and both teams traded chances in the final minutes of the match, with neither able to find the back of the net.
Petrucci and Greenwood each earned the shut out, making four and six saves, respectively.
Nipissing 3 @ Ryerson 1
TORONTO – The Ryerson Rams women's soccer team opened their 2014 season with a 3-1 loss at the hands of the visiting Nipissing Lakers on Saturday afternoon at Monarch Park Stadium.
"It's one of those games you want to get your home opener out off the bat and you want to get a result. We didn't play well enough for long enough periods of the game (today). We're young so we can say there's a lot of learning there," said head coach Kevin Souter following the game.
The Rams starting lineup featured five first year players who all gained valuable experience in their first regular season contest.
Nipissing opened the scoring in the 10th minute when Sara Dorval (Thunder Bay, Ont.) headed home a free kick delivery from Rachel Haine (St. Catharines, Ont.).
Ryerson responded shortly after as first year striker Alex Rodkin (Whitby, Ont.) made a strong run through the middle with her left foot and buried her first OUA goal to tie the match in the 24th minute.
"She took to goal excellently. She's not a natural left footer but she struck with her left and she's always after the goal. She adds a different dimension to our team and she's going to cause a lot of problems for opponents this year," said Souter of Rodkin's finish.
The teams headed to the half time whistle deadlocked at 1-1 but the Lakers came out of the break hungrier and tallied a quick goal in the 47th minute. Kristin Farkas (Stoney Creek, Ont.) made a strong cross through the box to the back post where Caitlin Laughlin (Waterdown, Ont.) slid the ball home to take a 2-1 advantage.
Five minutes later, sophomore Shannon Russell (Thornton, Ont.) added an insurance marker for the Lakers which rounded out the scoring.
Both teams recorded seven shots throughout the match. Nipissing's Carlee Bennard (Burlington, Ont.) made four saves for the win while Brittney Clendenan (Ottawa, Ont.) made one save in the loss.
Waterloo 0 @ Guelph 3
GUELPH, Ont. – The Gryphon women's soccer team opened their 2014 regular season in style, shutting out the Waterloo Warriors 3-1 on Saturday afternoon at the Gryphon Soccer Complex. Gryphon third-year striker Breanna Hall led the team with a pair of goals. All three goals were scored in the first half.
Hall scored the first season goal in the 32nd minute of play with a header, quickly followed by her second goal of the season. Jacqueline Goulart kept the pressure on with the Gryphons` third goal of the game in the 40th minute.
The Gryphons defense did an excellent job of shutting down the Warriors, only allowing one shot on net the entire game while the potent Gryphon offence tallied nine shots on net.
Guelph maintained their lead in the second half and played a strong offensive game, keeping most of the play in the Warriors' end.
Rookie Holly Miller stood tall in net for the Gryphons and earned the win.
Ottawa 2 @ UOIT 3
OSHAWA, Ont. – The UOIT Ridgebacks women's soccer team got their season off to a great start as they defeated the Ottawa Gee-Gees 3-2 at Vaso's Field on Saturday afternoon.
There was a lot of action in the first half as the teams combined for four goals. Fortunately for UOIT, they were on the right side of the scoreboard as they held a 3-1 lead after 45 minutes.
Freshman Jordan Thornton (Ajax, Ont.) scored in the 9th minute to put the Ridgebacks on the board. Her first career goal was one for the highlight reel as she sailed in a shot from almost 40 yards out. Shortly after, the Ridgebacks had another great chance as Jessica Mithrush (Thunder Bay, Ont.) took a free kick at the top of the box but the Gee-Gees' wall deflected it.
The Ridgebacks expanded their lead to 2-0 when Rachel Matthews (Ajax, Ont.) scored from the left side, also recording her first career goal. However, the Gee-Gees responded when Pilar Khoury (Ottawa, Ont.) netted one in the 39th minute of the first half.
Minutes later, Mithrush played a beautiful through ball to Kayla De Souza (Scarborough, Ont.) who made no mistake slipping one past the Gee-Gees keeper Cynthia Leblanc (Granby, Que.) to take the Ridgebacks into the second half with a two-goal lead.
The Ridgebacks fought hard to maintain their lead throughout the second half. Nicole Zajac (Mississauga, Ont.) almost made it 4-1 in the 79th minute but it went wide. Shynice Williams (Mississauga, Ont.) continued to press the Gee-Gees in the dying minutes of regular time but her attempt was just shy of the net.
In extra time, Ottawa defender Chiara Quadri (White Rock, B.C.) scored on a penalty kick, but the head official immediately blew his whistle to give UOIT three points.
UOIT's back four stayed strong throughout the second half by not letting Ottawa score until the penalty kick in injury time of the second half. With Ottawa pressing late in the game, De Souza did a great job heading out a number of crosses in the box.
UOIT goalkeeper Melissa Linton (Cobourg, Ont.) made many key saves to keep the Gee-Gees from coming back. In total, she made eight stops for her first win of the season.
Brock 0 @ York 4
TORONTO – Third-year striker Nour Ghoneim scored a pair of goals to lead the York University Lions women's soccer team to a 4-0 victory over the Brock Badgers in their season opener on Saturday afternoon (Aug. 30).
Ghoneim (Aurora, Ont.), who led the Lions in scoring last year, didn't take long to find the back of the net to start this season. She converted a gorgeous Sarah Wong (Toronto) pass into the game's first goal in the 29th minute for an early 1-0 lead.
Less than two minutes later the Lions stretched their advantage to two when Aisha Lewis (Mississauga, Ont.), playing in her first game at York after four seasons with the Toronto Varsity Blues, scored to make it 2-0.
Ghoneim added her second of the game in the 41st minute after another stellar pass from Wong, and the Lions carried the 3-0 lead into the half.
York quickly added another in the 48th minute off the foot of Colleen Beesley (Richmond Hill, Ont.). The attack settled down after that as the Lions turned to a defensive style of play to close out the game.
Rookie goalkeeper Courtney Davis (Cambridge, Ont.), in her first career CIS start, made two saves for the win.
Algoma 0 @ Western 17
LONDON, Ont. – The Mustangs started their regular season off with a bang on Saturday afternoon, netting eight goals in the first half and never looking back on their way to a 17-0 victory over the Algoma Thunderbirds at Mustangs Field.
"It was good to get everyone involved," said Mustangs head coach Martin Painter after the game. "Scoring goals is always good, building some confidence. In terms of how we moved offensively and how we moved the ball and executed in certain situations, I thought it was good, obviously we're going to have some tougher tests moving forward but still good early on to get some success and build some confidence."
Fresh off their first overall finish and a trip to the CIS nationals in 2013, the Mustangs opened the 2014 season by welcoming the Thunderbirds to the OUA after their transfer from the OCAA. Algoma's debut may not have gone exactly as planned but they fought until the end and got a number of quality stops from their goalie, Lauren Moore.
Paige Howard and Aoi Ichiyama led the Mustangs attack in the first half, scoring two goals apiece and firing five of Western's 13 shots. Four other players-- Meghan Glibbery, Abbey Young, Tianna Deluzio, and Amanda Boyle—contributed with goals of their own before half-time.
Western's big first-half advantage was due in large part to their sharp passing and quality communication on the field—in other words, a good offense is the best defense—but the Mustangs also made sure to stay sharp on defense. Algoma had trouble getting any breathing room, finding themselves unable to register a shot through the first half and experiencing the same struggles in the second.
The Mustangs, on the other hand, didn't lose their touch in the second half, adding eight more goals before time ran out for good. Stephanie Di Tella, Grace Grafham, Julia Crnjic each chimed in with two second-half tallies while Jess Friend and Amy Lintack also scored for the purple and white. Crnjic's second half goal completed her hat-trick—Western's only of the afternoon.
After the game, coach Painter spoke about keeping things tight in a game so wide open.
"In one-sided games like that there's a danger that things get sloppy but overall I thought we did a good job of trying to move the ball quickly, getting different players involved, and using the game as well as we can to get prepared for the tougher games we're going to have" Painter said.
Carleton 3 @ Trent 1
Sunday, August 31
Nipissing 0 Toronto 2
TORONTO – Sarah Watling's goal in the 12th minute proved to be the game-winner as the University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's soccer team defeated the Nipissing Lakers 2-0 on Sunday afternoon (Aug. 31) at Varsity Centre.
With the win, the Blues stand at 1-0-1 after opening weekend.
Nipissing's Valaine Confesor (Toronto) challenged U of T goalkeeper Sara Petrucci early in the game, but it was the Blues who opened the scoring in the 12th minute.
A third-year defender, Watling (Markham, Ont.) had the ball and, when charged by Lakers goalkeeper Carlee Bennard, lobbed it over her head to find the back of the net.
Toronto almost extended their lead in the 19th minute when rookie Chenoya Vitalis (Ajax, Ont.) sent a nice cross to sophomore Nicki Parkes (Sarnia, Ont.), whose shot sailed over the cross bar.
The Blues led 1-0 at the half.
U of T had another good chance to score in the 49th minute when Claudia Piazza crossed the ball through traffic to Chelsea Chung, but her shot went just wide of the net.
The Lakers registered a solid scoring chance four minutes later when Cassie Parker found Caroline Kovacs in the box, but Blues defender Sienna Tozios knocked the ball out of harm's way.
Toronto went up by two in the 71st minute when rookie striker Zoe Carty challenged Bennard, and Piazza (Brampton, Ont.) was there to bury the rebound.
Petrucci made two saves in the shutout victory.
Laurentian 3 @ Ryerson 2
TORONTO – The Ryerson Rams women's soccer team suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to the Laurentian Voyageurs on Sunday afternoon at Monarch Park Stadium.
With the score knotted at 2-2 and playing into injury time, the Rams committed a hand ball in the box to award the Voyageurs a penalty kick which Amy Fitzgerald (Mississauga, Ont.) deposited into the back of the net as the final play of the match.
Laurentian had jumped out to a 2-0 lead within the first 12 minutes of the match on goals from Vanessa Cesario (Mississauga, Ont.) and Megan Ferguson (Kitchener, Ont.) but Ryerson was able to weather the storm and began to create their own chances.
Striker Alex Rodkin (Whitby, Ont.) rung a shot off the left goal post before Sarah Harvey (Bowmanville, Ont.) had a good effort on target turned away by the keeper.
Ryerson got on the board in the 23rd minute when Laurentian committed a hand ball in the box of their own and Rodkin stepped to the dot and converted for her second goal in as many days.
Just over five minutes later, Soraya El-houni (Toronto) tallied her first OUA goal on a great strike from distance that floated into the top corner to tie the match up at 2-2 in the 29th minute.
The teams traded chances throughout the second half but played a scoreless 45 minutes before the game-ending penalty kick.
Ryerson finished the game with 15 shots, nine of which found the target, compared to ten total shots for Laurentian with seven on goal.
Voyageurs' keeper Richele Greenwood (Mississauga, Ont.) made six saves in the victory while Brittney Clendenan (Ottawa, Ont.) stopped four shots in the loss for the Rams.
"Going down two goals early was unfortunate. I thought we were switched on right from the start but not defensively. But we started to play our game and showed tremendous character to come back and tie the game. We were unfortunate not to get more out of it…but I think that's the way the cookie crumbles. It was a good learning curve and great lesson," said head coach Kevin Souter following the game.
Carleton 1 @ UOIT 1
OSHAWA, Ont. – After 12 minutes of UOIT's women's soccer match against Carleton on Sunday afternoon, fans at Vaso's Field thought they were in for a shootout as both sides had scored. However, that was not the case as the teams went scoreless for the remainder of the game to end up in a 1-1 draw.
Carleton had the best chance to break the tie when substitution Melat Cherent (Ottawa) had a clean break on net in the 64th minute. With Cherent looking for the back right corner, UOIT goalkeeper Melissa Linton (Cobourg, Ont.) made a sprawling save to keep the score level.
The Ravens were first to get on the board as Sarah Royer (Lethbridge, Alta.) elevated above the Ridgebacks defence and headed in a cross from captain Veronica Mazzella (Sudbury, Ont.) only five minutes into the game.
Much like their opening goal on Saturday against Ottawa, UOIT's lone goal was from long range as Jessica Mithrush (Thunder Bay, Ont.) sailed a shot that was just out of the reach of the keeper to tie the game at the 12-minute mark. The Ridgebacks continued to apply the pressure and fired 10 shots on net by the end of the first half, but the team ultimately could not capitalize on any of their scoring chances.
UOIT would end up outshooting Carleton 15-10 but only by a 9-8 margin in shots on target. Linton finished the match with seven saves while Carleton's Rada Mintchev (Ottawa) made eight.
The Ridgebacks and Ravens sit tied atop of the OUA eastern conference standings with matching 1-0-1 records along with Laurentian and Toronto.
Guelph 2 @ Brock 0
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock University women's soccer team (0-0-2 OUA) dropped a 2-0 decision to the visiting Guelph Gryphons Sunday afternoon at Brock Badgers Field.
The Gryphons answered first in the 19th minute as Courtney Whiteside captilized on a free kick opportunity putting one over the hands of Brock starting goalkeeper Meaghan Buckingham for the 1-0 lead.
Guelph's Kristina Strojin would put her team up 2-0 in the 58th minute burying a miscue in front the Badgers goal past Buckingham.
In the final 20 minutes, the Badgers would try to get something going on offense, but it was the Gryphons defense and starting goalkeeper Holly Miller standing tall registering their second straight shutout victory.
In goal, Buckingham collected eight saves in the loss while Miller registered six saves in the shutout win.
Algoma 0 @ Western 13
LONDON, Ont. - Amanda Boyle recorded a hat trick to help the Western Mustangs women's soccer team defeat the Algoma Thunderbirds 13-0 on Sunday afternoon at Mustangs Field.
The win gives the Mustangs a 2-0-0 start to the regular season as they gear up for three more games in the coming week.
"I'm happy with where we're at. I'm also aware that there's a lot of things we're going to have to get better at, moving forward," said Mustangs head coach Martin Painter about the team's performance. "We've got some big tests coming up really soon. It's a good way to ease into the season, but we don't want to get complacent."
Boyle, a Vaughan, Ont., native, wasted no time in the game, netting three goals early on in the first half. She was not the only player who found the back of the net multiple times during the game; Stephanie Di Tella, Lauren Vandenbygaart, Paige Howard, and Grace Grafham all recorded two goals each in the victory.
The Thunderbirds came back to the pitch appearing to be refocused after their tough loss in Saturday's match. Enya Farelly stepped in net for the Thunderbirds after keeper Lauren Moore was injured in warm up and put up a strong effort between the posts.
In the end, the Mustangs came out on top once again. The purple and white were quick to act on the offensive front, recording five goals in the first 20 minutes. After adding two more in the first half, the Mustangs shifted their focus in the second half to their ball control and movement. After continuing their strong play and communication, the purple and white were able to add another six to the scoreboard by the end of the game despite an impressive effort from the Algoma squad, who had no substitutes for the afternoon.
Ottawa 7 @ Trent 0
PETERBOROUGH, Ont. – The Gee-Gees women's soccer team evened its record at 1-1 to start the OUA regular season with a 7-0 win at Trent University on Sunday. Rookie Delaney Rickert-Hall scored twice for the Gee-Gees, as did fourth-year Pilar Khoury, who now has three goals on the season.
Khoury's first goal of the game came in the 35th minute and served to open the floodgates for Ottawa. Fifth-year defender Maris Barnabe scored her first goal of the season at 42 minutes, followed quickly by Khoury's second strike and Rickert-Hall's first career goal within the final minute of the first half.
Rickert-Hall struck again with the first goal of the second half at 52 minutes. "She's been a consistent scorer all the way through her soccer career, and we were hopeful for her to continue to show her goal-scoring ability at the university level," said head coach Steve Johnson of the Ottawa native and St-Francis Xavier alumna.
Another good sign for uOttawa is Elisabeth Wong back on the scoring sheet, contributing the sixth Gee-Gee goal of the day. In just her third game back from ACL surgery last year, Johnson substituted the 2010 OUA Rookie of the Year into the game midway through the first half.
Rookie Alyssa Rimac topped things off with a powerful finish to a Julia Francki cross-crease pass in the 87th minute.
Laurier Golden Hawks 4 @ Waterloo Warriors 0
WATERLOO, Ont. – Emily Brown of Waterloo, Ont., and Maxine Murchie of Kitchener, Ont., both scored twice to pace the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women's soccer team to a 4-0 win over the Waterloo Warriors on Sunday afternoon.
For the Hawks (2-0-0), it was their second convincing victory in as many days to kick off the season as they have now outscored their opponents 9-0.
Brown, last year's OUA leading scorer, continued to impress early on for the purple and gold as she scored a pair of goals in the first half. Murchie also found a first half tally for the Hawks before rounding out the scoring early in the second half.
For Brown, she now has four goals on the season while Murchie has three to lead what is shaping up to be a potent offensive attack for Laurier.
In goal, Maggie Carmichael of Orono, Ont., was tested on four occasions by the Warriors but maintained her perfect start to the season as well, posting her second consecutive clean sheet.
Madison McDonald of Kitchener, Ont., suffered the loss for Waterloo (0-2-0) as she allowed three first half goals on four shots against.
Cynthia Leblanc made two saves to record her first shutout of the season.
Source: Laurier Golden Hawks
McMaster 0 @ York 2
TORONTO – The York University Lions women's soccer team earned a 2-0 victory over the McMaster Marauders on Sunday afternoon (Aug. 31) at York Stadium for its second straight win to start the season.
Rookie striker Christina Morelli (Markham, Ont.) opened the scoring in the 35th minute after she converted an Aisha Lewis (Mississauga, Ont.) pass into the first goal of her career.
The goal held as the only one of the first half.
The Lions controlled play for much of the start of the second half, and were rewarded in the 62nd minute when Francesca Pedulla (Richmond Hill, Ont.) scored her first of the season to give her squad a 2-0 advantage. Sydney Hoareau (Brampton, Ont.), in her debut season for the Lions after two at IPFW in the NCAA, assisted on the play.
Rookie goalkeeper Courtney Davis (Cambridge, Ont.) earned her second straight win to start her CIS career with six saves in the contest.
Her counterpart, McMaster's Brittany Duffey (Markham, Ont.), also made six saves in addition to allowing the two goals.
Queen's 6 @ RMC 0
KINGSTON, Ont. (August 31, 2014) - Jackie Tessier (Winnipeg) made her return to the Gaels lineup after a one year hiatus and picked up right where she left off scoring three goals in her debut, a 6-0 win for Queen's.
It took only four minutes for Tessier to strike as the three-time All-Canadian and two-time national champion put the Gaels up 1-0. Six minutes later she added her second of the game and Tara Bartram (Vancouver) followed up with her first of the season in the 34th minute. Tessier completed the hat-trick in the 39th minute as the Gaels went up 4-0 and finished the first half with 18 shots on goal.
The Gaels were relentless with their offensive attack adding another 20 shots in the second half to bring their total to 38. Bartram added her second of the night in the 60th minute and Brittany Almeida (Kingston, Ont.) got on the board in the 82nd minute with her first of the year.
Madison Tyrell (White Rock, B.C.) got the clean sheet for the Gaels stopping all nine shots faced while RMC keeper Alexandria Hogg finished with an impressive 32 saves in a losing effort.
