BURNABY, B.C. -- One goal was the slim difference between the Simon Fraser University and University of B.C. women's soccer teams Thursday night in Burnaby.
In a closely contested match, UBC came away with a 1-0 road victory thanks to a 24th-minute goal by Danielle Steer at the new SFU Stadium at Terry Fox Field. The marker came on a net-front scramble that ensued after an Emma Hooton corner kick.
SFU's best chance came just about eight minutes after halftime. Sophomore midfielder
Giuliana Zaurrini intercepted a Thunderbirds throw-in and passed the ball up the near sideline to rookie forward
Raegan Mackenzie. She cut towards the middle of the field, and then found another freshman, midfielder
Kate Cartier, who fired a shot just over the crossbar from the top right corner of the penalty area.
"We didn't get the result, but we're trending upwards, we're trending in the right direction so I'm quite pleased with that," remarked SFU head coach
Annie Hamel. She saw some impressive outings from her roster of players, which included five sophomores and three freshmen who started the game in red.
Emily Smith. Photo by Wilson Wong.
One of those sophomores, SFU goalkeeper
Kelsey Fisher, made six saves in an excellent performance. With about seven and a half minutes remaining, a sliding Fisher used her hand to knock away a breakaway UBC chip shot to keep her squad in the game.
Kelsey Fisher. Photo by Wilson Wong.
The Thunderbirds held a 15-5 advantage in shots towards the net, and finished the game ahead 13-1 in corner kicks.
Non-conference play, which included two matches in Colorado and two at home, is now over for SFU (0-3-1). The team will now look ahead to its GNAC league opener on Thursday, Sept. 23 at 5 p.m. against Western Washington at the new SFU Stadium at Terry Fox Field.
Amanda Scott. Photo by Wilson Wong.
"I felt we had some good performances in Colorado, we had a bit of a setback against Fraser Valley, we were missing a lot of players from the Colorado trip. We have a short bench, so tonight, that was a team performance that was inspiring and to be honest, I feel very confident going into the GNAC," said Hamel.
Follow women's soccer on Twitter and Instagram at @SFUWSoc. Fans can also keep up with all of SFU Athletics on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter at @SFU_Athletics.
--@SFU_Athletics--
