New Brunswick wins Canada Games matchup
Chelsea Burnham, Lauren Kelly combine for shutout of P.E.I. in women’s premier league action
Kelsie McGinn tallied the eventual game-winning goal early in the match and her goalkeepers did the rest as New Brunswick’s Canada Games team shut out the P.E.I. Canada Games squad 2-0 in New Brunswick Women’s Premier Soccer League action Saturday in Charlottetown.
McGinn leapt above the P.E.I. defence about five minutes into the game and headed her first goal of the season past P.E.I. keeper Alison Muise, whose squad dropped to 1-3.
New Brunswick (1-4) earned its first win in the five-team circuit as a reward for its togetherness, said McGinn.
“I thought we had some good possessions offensively. (Defensively) we were united and played well together,” said McGinn. “(To get better though) we have to push past where we’ve been. We have to be more determined. Stick to our tackles and get the ball as much as possible.”
Going into the game, P.E.I. sported the league’s second leading scorer in Maddy Hurley (three goals) and two others (Caitlin McCloskey, Katherine MacEwen) with one marker each.
But New Brunswick’s stingy defence and attacking style carried the play for the first half and, barring stellar keeping early in the second half by Muise, could have been ahead by at least three goals.
Muise kept the Island squad in the game, including stopping four shots in that busy stretch, before Eve MacDonald floated New Brunswick’s second goal
over Muise’s head mid-way through the frame.
From there second-half keeper Chelsea Burnham kept P.E.I. at bay and shared the shutout with first-half starter Lauren Kelly.
For P.E.I.’s Kamren Chaisson, the loss showed its need to shore up its structure.
“We were trying to get our formations together and our fitness level has to be higher,” said Chaisson, whose squad starts
the Canada Summer Games soccer event July 29. “We have to want it more and it’s crunch time.”
P.E.I.’s next game is Tuesday, June 27, versus Codiac First Touch in Moncton.