The University of the Fraser Valley Cascades earned their second win in Canada West regular season play, edging the Thompson Rivers WolfPack 1-0 at Abbotsford Senior Secondary on Friday evening.
Cascades defender Tristan Corneil scored the only goal of the contest late in the second half, lifting the Cascades' record to 2-0-1 on the season. TRU, after going unbeaten in their last three contests, drops to 2-2-1.
The first half was evenly matched with both teams playing strong defensively and trying to feel each other out.
The WolfPack came out and pressed offensively for the opening minutes of the second half, with fifth-year forwards Katie Sparrow and Jaydene Radu both testing Cascades' goalkeeper Kayla Klim from in close. Sparrow saw her effort on goal smothered by Klim while Radu's shot sailed high.
That was as close as TRU would come.
CIS No. 7-ranked UFV's attack came to life as they the worked the ball quickly out of transition and moved forward with purpose.
The Cascades thought they had broken through in the 65th minute. Corneil launched a high-arcing ball from 35 yards that hit the top of the crossbar before landing just inches in front of the WolfPack goal line. The ball bounced across the face of goal and bounced off a WolfPack defender before settling into the net for an apparent goal.
The referees convened, however, and determined that the ball was briefly out of play before landing, thus negating the goal.
Corneil would find her goal in the 81st minute. With fellow defender Jade Palm running a screen in front of Thompson Rivers goalkeeper Taylor Shantz, Corneil's corner kick effort slipped through Shantz's hands and tumbled over the goal line.
"She could have had two today," Cascades head coach Rob Giesbrecht noted afterward. "The decision of an assistant referee or a head official, those are beyond our control. When you think you've scored and it's called back, you can't let it frustrate you. You've got to keep going, keep doing the positive things, and we did. I guess justice was served with Tristan getting the late winner.
"It was a grind, and we knew it was going to be a grind. TRU is a team that always puts a good shift in and makes it frustrating for us. They're well-coached, quite well-organized, and difficult to break down. I thought their keeper was really good today, and we knew it would have to be something special to beat her."
The Cascades are back in action at Abby Senior on Saturday – they host the UBC Okanagan Heat at 5 p.m. The WolfPack visit the Trinity Western Spartans in another 5 p.m. start.
- by Russell Arbuthnot, UFV Cascades communications staff