Rough start for women
UPEI men’s team splits weekend results
It was a rough weekend for the UPEI women’s soccer Panthers.
UPEI dropped its first game on the weekend on Saturday, a 4-0 decision at the hands of the defending champion St. F.X. XWomen.
UPEI head coach Graeme McDonald said his Panthers were already back on their heels when Kelsey Ellis opened the scoring for X just 24 seconds into the game. “We lost an early goal and that kind of set us back a little bit,’’ McDonald said. “I think the girls played well enough to compete against X. We possessed the ball very well . . . so that was very pleasing to see and we had some good stats but, unfortunately, we’re not taking advantage of our chances at the moment to put the ball in the net.’’
Ellis would score again in the 59th minute of the second half and X poured it on from there with goals from Larissa White (75th minute) and Mercy Myles (90th minute).
Erin Visser picked up the clean sheet for X, making three saves. Amanda Stanyer allowed four goals on five shots in the Panther net.
UPEI had the edge in corner kicks at 4-0.
On Sunday, UPEI would battle Moncton a bit tougher but still came away with a 3-1 loss. Catherine Dupuis opened the scoring in the first minute before Danielle Younker tied it up for UPEI in the 35th minute. Moncton would score twice in the second half, Natalie Fleming (53rd minute) and Dupuis again (67th minute). Shots were even at 11-11 while UPEI had the edge in corner kicks at 9-7. “We created a lot more opportunities to score,’’ McDonald said. “We had enough chances to have the game tied up at half time. We’re just not taking those opportunities and scoring those goals. If you wanted a headline it would be we are getting punished. We make a couple of mistakes and they’re scoring on them.’’
SATURDAY
The UPEI men’s soccer Panthers opened their season on a rocky note falling 2-0 to the St. F.X. X-men at the UPEI turf on Saturday afternoon before a good crowd hoping to see their team get off to a good start.
It wasn’t to be, as the larger, aggressive and experienced X-men came out pressing and hemmed the Panthers in their own half for most of the first frame. The size difference in the X-Men proved to be a major hurdle that the Panthers just couldn’t overcome as most balls in the air were controlled by St. F.X.
This proved itself in the 43rd minute as a Panther goal kick turned into counter attacking header followed by a clean strike from X-Men midfielder Dan Hayfield that gave St. F.X. the 1-0 lead at half time. UPEI head coach Lewis Page kept his starting 11 intact as they entered the second half but it became apparent that changes were in order as he shuffled his squad in hopes of mounting some sort of continuous attack. The X-Men continued their assault but for the luck of some goal posts and last second deflections, the Panthers were able to hold the score.
In the 80th minute, St. F.X. striker Natneal Tecle beat his fullback along the baseline and scored the clincher.
If you were a Panther fan the stats weren’t pretty as X held a 20-10 edge in shots toward goal 8-5 edge in shots on goal. The chances were no better as X held the advantage 11-3. Fouls were UPEI 14 and X eight with both squads picking up two yellow cards.
The X-Men had the advantage in corner kicks, 10-2. “We got beat by a better team for sure,” said Page. “That’s not only a big strong team but they are also very good technically. It’s certainly a standard that we have got to get up to and unfortunately we’re not there yet. I think our 1v1 defending needs to be better. That’s a very good team, they’re going to win a lot of games.”
UPEI managed to get into the win column a day later with a 4-0 win over Moncton. Sam Smiley had a pair of goals for the Panthers while Neil Harte and Lucas Holmes rounded out the scoring.