LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western women's soccer team put together its most complete effort of the season and with goals from Jessica King (Liverpool, England), Krista Gommeringer (Calgary) and Vanessa Kovacs (North Delta, B.C.) earned a 3-0 win over UBC Saturday at Rogers Field.
The Thunderbirds got off to a strong start through the first 20 minutes, but when King scored in the 28th minute, the Spartans found their groove. Outshooting UBC 16-3, the Spartans were the better team over the final 70 minutes and with Gommeringer scoring in first half stoppage time and Kovacs tallying in second half stoppage time, TWU picked up one of its most decisive wins of the year.
For King, it was her 10th goal of the season – moving her into a tie for the Canada West lead – and her sixth game-winning goal.
The win improved the Spartans to 9-0-1 and took their winning streak to eight games. The Spartans are now five points clear of second place sitting Fraser Valley and Victoria with two games remaining. UBC dropped to 5-3-2.
Spartans goalie Christina Oliverio (Calgary), who only had to make one save, earned her second straight shutout after also blanking Victoria Friday in a 1-0 win. UBC's Emily Wilson made two saves on the five shots on goal she faced.
"I thought we played very well tonight," said Spartans coach Graham Roxburgh. "Credit to UBC. They're a very good team and they have lots of good players. I thought they made it difficult for us and probably were the better team early on. It took us a little while to get going, but once we did, we really started to find our legs and pass the ball well. We missed a few chances, which could have made the game a little safer earlier, but any time we can beat one of your cross-town rivals 3-0, that's a good thing. I was really pleased with our corporate effort again tonight."
The Spartans will host UFV Friday and play at UBC Sunday. UBC will play Victoria Friday before hosting the Spartans Sunday.
The Thunderbirds looked strong early on, but were unable to muster much of anything offensively. And then the Spartans struck for their first of the night.
Cutting through the middle of the park, Seina Kashima (Burnaby, B.C.) put a deft through ball into King in the box and the Spartans striker buried her chance past Wilson.
The goal swung the game's momentum.
With TWU pushing for a second goal, Gommeringer supplied it just before the halftime whistle. Jennifer Castillo (Surrey, B.C.) sent Gommeringer a pass and the TWU striker did the rest, swooping past a charging Wilson and slotting the ball into the gaping net.
After outshooting UBC 6-0 in the first half, the Spartans kept coming in the second half.
In the 56th minute, Gommeringer took a perfectly placed looping pass from Alessandra Oliverio (Calgary) and ripped a screamer on target, but it hit the crossbar.
Despite already possessing a 2-0 lead, the Spartans pushed for a third and, off a set piece, scored just before the final whistle.
From 25 yards out Gommeringer hit a low free kick into the box and found a sliding Kovacs, who deflected the ball home.
"Seina's setup for Jessica's goal was wonderful. Krista gave us everything again and was rewarded tonight and maybe could have been rewarded a few more times. Our corporate defending was excellent tonight. We still have some things to work on but getting two wins this weekend was important."
Game Notes: UBC's Emma Kallner was the only player who got a card as she was shown yellow in in the 58th minute…TWU had a 7-2 edge in corners.
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