VANCOUVER – The first game for Marisa Kovacs as head coach of the UBC Thunderbirds women's soccer team ended in a 1-1 score line as her squad drew with the visiting Warner Pacific (Ore.) Knights at the UBC preseason tournament on Friday in Vancouver.
"It wasn't the result we wanted but there were lots of positive things to build off of," Kovacs said. "We created a lot of chances for ourselves. The buildup was pretty positive. Moving forward, we know what we need to do. It's really early. We got some freshmen in the match as well."
"It's just exciting to get the season underway as we're building towards the conference tournament, hopefully, and of course, the national championships here on campus in November."
The Thunderbirds controlled the play on Ken Woods Field, finishing the night with a 13-4 advantage in shots on net.
However, WPC goalkeeper Cathy Lara, a halftime substitute, was the hero for the visitors as she made five saves in the second half, including one on a 72nd-minute penalty kick by UBC's Reetu Johal (Surrey, B.C.) to keep the game deadlocked at 1-1. Lara dove to her left to get two hands on a low strike.
UBC had a golden opportunity to go ahead two minutes later when Amrit Berar (Richmond, B.C.) hit the goalpost to Lara's left with a low strike.
After a scoreless first half, the Thunderbirds were able to convert in the 50th minute. Berar crossed a ball from the right side into the box. Shayla Chorney (Vancouver) flicked the ball over to Taylor Shannik (Delta, B.C.), who fired a shot past Lara to make it 1-0 for the home side.
WPC played a counterattacking style for much of the contest and tied the score at 1-1 in the 59th minute. Sitera Allison slotted home a shot from about 22 yards on the right side of the field. UBC 'keeper Marlee Maracle (Oakville, Ont.) got her hand on the ball but it wasn't enough to keep it out.
Maracle had some heroics of her own late in the game. After a turnover deep in UBC territory, she had to make a save on a hard, point-blank shot by Brittney Yoshimura inside the penalty area in the 82nd minute. Maracle had four stops in all on Friday night.
Both teams, with records of 0-1-0, have a day off before returning to action on Sunday at Thunderbird Stadium on the UBC campus in Vancouver. WPC will face the Kwantlen Eagles of Surrey, B.C., at 12 noon. UBC will play Northwest (Wash.) at 2:30 p.m.
IMAGE CREDIT: Wilson Wong/UBC Thunderbirds