Thursday night in Abbotsford the UNBC Timberwolves (0-3-0) put forth a solid effort — one truly worthy of victory.
Unfortunately the UFV Cascades (1-2-0) did what was needed to earn their first victory of the season, holding off UNBC by a 2-1 score.
UNBC’s first goal of the season came during second-half stoppage time when Scarlet Thomas rifled home her first career Canada West marker on a penalty kick, after Fraser Valley had built a 2-0 lead on goals from Eesha Mudaliar and Kiana Langston.
UNBC goalie Johanna Rathke turned aside 14 UFV shots and was especially brilliant in the first half, making two incredible point-blank saves off of Langston. At the other end UNBC produced a season-high 15 shots, 10 of which ended up on target.
In the early moments of their first road contest of the season, Neil Sedgwick’s crew looked solid and composed. The Timberwolves were patient defensively, and when the opportunity presented itself, they did not hesitate to send long through balls through the middle of the field — most of which did connect for some speedy looks down the wing. UNBC finished the first half with two shots on target, both of off the boot of Kate Rattee.
At the other end, Langston had three shots on target and two of those looks were point-blank chances denied by Rathke. Her first ‘Grade A’ save off Langston came in the 16th minute, and another one followed in the 32nd minute. As the second of the first half ticked down, it looked likely that the teams would remain 0-0.
That changed in the 43rd minute off a set piece. UFV’s Camryn Lyon sent a long, high ball into the penalty area from the back-third of the pitch. UNBC knocked the high ball down, but right to the waiting foot of Mudaliar. Mudaliar’s low shot switched direction and snuck past Rathke giving UFV their first goal of the season.
The TWolves amped up the energy in the second half, which resulted in five shots on target in the first 17 minutes. Grace Barrett, who entered the match as a half-time substitute had three of the five chances and came especially close to her first career Canada West goal in the 62nd minute. Five minutes earlier, rookie RJ Barfoot dinged one off the post. The young Timberwolves literally did everything but score.
Then, in the 65th minute, UFV snagged momentum back when Langston, on her fourth shot-on-target of the night, finally solved Rathke.
Despite the two-goal deficit, the TWolves remained urgent for the duration of the match, and in the early minutes of stoppage time, that urgency was rewarded with a penalty kick. Barfoot, a rookie striker, unfortunately was on the receiving end of a collision in the penalty area. Due to injury, Barfoot’s penalty kick was taken by Thomas and the second-year from Sydney, Australia made no mistake. She angled a low shot inside the left bar past Chen to secure her first career Canada West goal.
Unfortunately that’s as close as UNBC would get on Thursday as there just simply wasn’t enough stoppage time remaining to complete their comeback. It was an encouraging effort nonetheless for Sedgwick’s crew, and they’ll get right back at it in the rematch Friday at 5:30 p.m.
The UNBC men (2-0-0) are in Langley to begin a two-game set against the Trinity Western Spartans (0-2-0), Friday and Saturday (both at 7:15 p.m.).
