TWU HAVE STRONG GAME

The reigning two-time champions Trinity Western Spartans showed why they are in the running to win a third straight Glady Bean trophy.

In the second quarter-final of the 2014 CIS women’s soccer championship, the Spartans dispatched the University of Ontario Institute Technology (UOIT) Ridgebacks 4-1 at Stade TELUS-Université Laval.

Ahead 2-1 at halftime, the Spartans continued to be opportunistic and when Vanessa Kovacs (North Delta’) scored her second goal of the game in the 57th minute, the fate of the match was decided.

Trinity Western now joins Ottawa in a semi-final match on Friday at 4 p.m. UOIT’s next game will also take place tomorrow, at 11 a.m., against the Montreal Carabins as part of the consolation semi-final.

“It was a bit of a nervy start to be honest. I thought UOIT were a worthy opponent, they made it tough,” said Trinity Western coach Graham Roxburgh after the game. “That late goal at the end of the first half probably made it more tricky than it should have been, but credit to my team. We talked about it at halftime, that we had to win the half.”

For the most part UOIT coach Peyvand Mossavat was pleased with his team’s effort. “I’m proud of the girls. Some rookie mistakes let us down, but the girls kept trying to play and they didn’t give up regardless of the score. I can’t be happier,” said Mossavat. “Without a doubt Trinity Western had a fantastic and experienced team versus our very young team.”

Within the first five minutes of the opening half the Trinity Western Spartans were able to draw the first goal of the match as fourth-year Vanessa Kovacs (North Delta, B.C.) was able to get her head on a corner kick provided by teammate Krista Gommeringer (Calgary).

Trinity Western continued to press and were shortly rewarded when midfielder Jenna Di Nunzio (North Delta) doubled the Spartans lead with a right foot strike just inside the top of the penalty box.

As the first half drew to a close the Ridgebacks managed to respond capitalizing on a free kick opportunity just outside the box. Ridgebacks’s defender and captain Kylie Bordeleau (Cambridge) struck the ball perfectly into the top right corner beating Spartans goalie Christina Oliverio (Calgary).

In the 57th minute of the second half the Spartans were able to reestablish their two-goal lead when Kovacs scored her second of the game, again off a corner from Gommeringer.

Gommeringer was able to put the game away in the 70th minute when she struck a shot from range that went in off the crossbar.

SCORING SUMMARY:

TWU 2–2–0: 4
UOIT 1–0–0: 1

First Half
1. TWU Vanessa Kovacs (1) (Krista Gommeringer), 5th

2. TWU Jenna Di Nunzio (1) (Seina Kashima), 33rd

3. UOIT Kylie Bordeleau (1) 45th

 Second Half
4. TWU Vanessa Kovacs (2) (Krista Gommeringer), 57th

5. TWU Krista Gommeringer (1) (Amy Gartke), 70th

Goalkeepers:
TWU: Christina Oliverio (W, 1 GA, 7 saves, 90:00, 1-0)

UOIT: Melissa Linton (L, 4 GA, 6 saves, 90:00, 0-1)

Team Stats
Shots: TWU 18, UOIT 17

Shots on net: TWU 10, UOIT 8
Corners: TWU 7, UOIT 5
Offsides: TWU 0, UOIT 3
Fouls: TWU 5, UOIT 9
Yellow cards: none
Red cards: none

Players of the game:

TWU: Seina Kashima

UOIT: Kylie Bordeleau

Thanks to Universitysport.ca for the info.