The University of Victoria Vikes women's soccer team fell short against the Trinity Western Spartans 2-1 on Oct. 23 at Centennial Stadium. The win secures the Spartans (10-1-2) second place in their division in Canada West and the hosting rights to a quarter-final match-up. The loss leaves the Vikes (7-3-3) with one final opportunity to secure hosting rights tomorrow against Fraser Valley.
A stroke of luck for the Spartans in the third minute gave them the early lead off a redirected cross into the Vikes net. The Spartans shut up shop for the remaining 87 minutes with the exception of a few key Vikes chances that were controlled by goalkeeper Ally Williamson. The Spartan fourth year made four saves in the win.
Vikes defender Samantha Lee fell victim to misfortune for the Vikes, redirecting the Spartans' only goal into her own net. Vikes goalkeeper Meaghan Storie made seven saves in the loss.
Both teams entered Friday's match with a fighting chance for the rights to host in the Canada West Quarter-Finals. Second and fourth place in the West Division were separated by five points. A Spartans win coupled with a UBC Thunderbirds victory over Fraser Valley means they will finish first and second in the West Division, while the Vikes, Fraser Valley and Alberta Pandas will fight for the third, fourth and fifth spots.
In the fourth minute, the Vikes fell victim to a strong early push from the Spartans and a stroke of bad luck. Spartans forward Rachel Hutchinson put a cross into the Vikes' box and Storie couldn't get in front of the ball. The ball bounced up and Lee couldn't clear the ball away safely, ultimately redirecting the cross into her own net.
The Vikes trailed going into half-time 1-0 from that early misfortune. The Spartans had directed six shots towards goal, with the Vikes trailing by one in that department with five. Vikes held the advantage in corners 5-3.
From the restart, the Vikes started on the offensive. The Vikes came dangerously close to tying the game in the 50th minute when Badilla-Gutierrez was stopped short by a great save from Williamson. The keeper did well to charge the ball and stretch out to make a nice kick save, denying the Vikes the equalizer.
The Vikes pushed everything forward in the final ten minutes of the game, earning corner after corner. The Vikes came close again off a free-kick that redirected to defender Lindsay Machin, who skied her effort over the bar.
Spartan goalkeeper Williamson saved the game for the Spartans in the final seconds of the game. A collision between Williamson and a Vike left the net open for Badilla-Gutierrez, but Williamson tracked back and made a game-saving stop to keep the Spartans ahead.
That save would save the result for the Spartans 1-0 over the Vikes to secure quarter-final hosting rights. The Spartans now travel to Vancouver to wrap up their season and take on the UBC Thunderbirds for first honours in the division.
The Vikes return to action Oct. 24 against Fraser Valley to wrap-up the Canada West regular season at Centennial Stadium. Stream the game live on canadawest.tv or visit govikesgo.com/tickets for more information on how you can take in the action.
Game Summary:
1 2 F
UVIC 0 0 0
TWU 1 0 1
Scoring Summary:
UVIC: none
TWU: Rachel Hutchinson (3')
Game MVPs:
UVIC: Katie Carrothers
TWU: Ally Williamson
Written by Jamie Umbach
Photo Credit: APShutter.com