KELOWNA, BC - Forward Erin Holt's twin first half goals for the Mount Royal Cougars managed to sink UBC Okanagan's women's soccer team by the score line of 3-0.
Holt's first goal came early on in the Sunday (Oct. 18) Canada West match in Kelowna, it was just the 6th minute when Cougar defender Riley Medd played a through ball on the Nonis Sports Field only for Holt to calmly finish past the Heat goalkeeper into the bottom right corner of the net.
Holt buried her second goal of the game and her third of the season just before half when Cougar midfielder Amanda Schafer's pass allowed Holt to finish a long low shot past a charging Heat goalkeeper, taking advantage of the out of position Joella Koblischke.
For the second straight home match UBC Okanagan trailed by more than one goal going into the break at the half being down (2-0) and just like Saturday versus the Griffin's it was due to a lack of finish not due to a lack of chances for the Okanagan team.
UBC Okanagan's best chance of the game came in the 37th minute when rookie Lindsey Berthelsen's shot ricocheted of the cross bar after she was made by forward Mairi Horth's brilliant through ball.
The side from Kelowna took an encouraging 15 shots during the course of the game testing goalkeeper Meghan Prudhomme often and forcing her to turn away eight shots throughout the game to earn the clean sheet.
Prudhomme put in work to get the shutout with two tremendous saves; first, midway through the second half she palmed away a sure goal off a UBC Okanagan free kick. She repeated her heroics in the 88th minute, denying Heat player of the match, freshmen midfielder's Madelyn Ellis' powerful strike to the top left corner.
UBC Okanagan faced some injury concerns as star forward Mairi Horth, playing in her final home contest, had to limp off the pitch after being victim to a tackle in the 61st minute. Horth and fifth year midfielder Michelle Smith will be playing their last two matches of their University career next weekend with UBC Okanagan closing out the regular season this upcoming Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 24-25).
The loss in today's game drops the Heat record to (1-7-4) and also means that the UBC Okanagan women's team is now seven points short of sixth placed Thompson Rivers. With two games remaining, the Heat are now out of the race to qualify for the playoffs.
The Mount Royal Cougars win their second of the season (2-8-2) and are still in the Eastern division playoff race. Up next for the Cougars will be the women's soccer version of the Crowchild Classic as Mount Royal will be facing University of Calgary this Thursday (Oct. 22) night.
To close out the season UBC Okanagan will be host two more games on their home pitch. On Saturday at 12 p.m. UNBC will venture south on highway 97 and challenge the Heat. The final game of the season will be on Sunday at 12 p.m. when the Heat host the Alberta Pandas for the first time ever.
~ Nimai Trivadi // Heat communications