Jessica Kozlowski, Dinos Communications 

CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos women's soccer team showed great resiliency throughout the match but were unable to rack up a second straight win, falling 1-0 to the of Fraser Valley Cascades at West Varsity Pitch Sunday.

From the moment the whistle blew to start the first half of the match, both teams were racing to create as many scoring opportunities as they could. Maddison Fritze was determined to add another goal to her record, but the ball flew over the top post in the 4th minute. Similarly, Marianne Spring also drove past the Dinos defensemen in her attempt at a goal in the 8th minute, but the ball soared way past over the net.

In the 13th minute, the Dinos defense had situated themselves towards the center of the pitch, which led Amanda Carruthers, with the help of Brittany Zacharuk, from the Cascades to drive the ball to the 10-yard box and Carruthers shot and scored to the bottom right corner of the net.

Both the Dinos and Cascades showed great speed and stamina as they continuously ran from one end of the field to the other throughout the entire first half.

In the second half, the Dinos took charge in hopes of tying up the match. Midfielder Sienna Prince- McPherson and Forward Montana Leonard both brought the heat with powerful shots. However, a common pattern emerged in that both of the shots flew overtop of the net.

The Cascades attempted to create opportunities for another goal but were unable to drive the ball past center, due to the entrapment of the Dinos defense.

Montana Leonard demonstrated her strong power when she was up for a penalty kick in the 77th minute. The powerful went over the wall but unfortunately went straight into the hands of Cascades keeper, Emily Harold.

Calgary Head Coach Troye Flannery used an analogy: "When there's a wounded dog, they bite and that's what the Cascades did today, they bit us."

"We weren't patient and tried to force things," he went on. "We obviously have talent and a bunch of pieces, but they need to settle down and play properly. We had a big chunk of the territory and ball but didn't generate great quality."

The game finished with 19 shots by the Dinos and 10 by the Cascades, with the University of Calgary goalie Lauren Houghton making five saves and UFV's Emily Harold protecting the goal nine times.

Next weekend, Dinos will be travelling on the road to the next Province over to face the University of Regina Cougars and University of Saskatchewan Huskies on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The Cascades have a long road of travelling ahead of them as they head to Edmonton and then Prince George to play against the MacEwan Griffins and UNBC Timberwolves.

-UC-

Photo by David Moll