T-wolves bite back against Huskies
The Saskatchewan Huskies looked to be on their way to their first victory of the season, leading the UNBC Timberwolves 2-0 with about five minutes left to play Sunday at Masich Place Stadium. But there was a dramatic finish to this U Sports Canada West conference Battle of the Dogs, one that left the T-wolves smiling.
In the 86th minute, UNBC midfielder Sonja Neitsch put on a burst of speed with a right wing rush and her crossing kick landed in the danger zone for the Huskies. Claire Stillwell tried to boot the ball to safety but instead it rolled beyond the reach of goalie Jadyn Steinhauer into the net. Neitsch, a second-year player from Calgary, was the last T-wolf to touch the ball and was credited with her first U Sports career goal.
Knowing the clock was about to strike 90, UNBC defender Mara McCleary immediately picked up the ball and ran it back to centrefield for the ensuing kickoff. The T-wolves eventually gained possession deep in Saskatchewan territory and Paige Payne was elected to take a corner kick. Her looping rainbow came down just in front of the far goalpost where rookie Sarah Zuccaro was standing.
The ball glanced off Zuccaro’s hip and with only a sliver of net showing between the post and goalie Steinhauser, it ricocheted in at the 89:17 mark to complete an unlikely UNBC comeback.
“I didn’t know if the ball was going to make it over without getting intercepted,” said Zuccaro. “I knew it was too low for my head to go down and I didn’t want to get kicked in the face so I just thought I’d put anything on it and hoped it would go in and it worked out.”
The Huskies jumped in front 2:19 in when Cassidy Hayward blocked McCleary’s clearing attempt and finished off her breakaway by filing the ball away high into the corner behind goalie Madi Doyle. Taneil Gay made it 2-0 in the 34th minute, set up in the box by a short pass from Payton Izsak, and the lead was never threatened until UNBC’s late outburst.
“We already had our motivation to get out in the second half and really get after it,” said McCleary, 19. “Two goals down isn’t a huge lead and we kept going right to the end. I think that really speaks to our mental toughness to keep going right to the end of the game.”
UNBC made some strategic adjustments trying for more offence in the second half and had better success keeping the ball upfield and away from their own goal. Zuccaro, an 18-year-old from Nanaimo, had a chance to win it for UNBC in injury time with ball on her foot in scoring range but she was unable to get the shot away.
“We changed up our formation quite a bit, it was a strange one, to be completely honest,” she said.
“We had players who were sort of defenders, but also strikers, but it worked really well. I think it shows we have a lot of diverse people out there who are able to shoot and not afraid to shoot. I think they were needing more players like that... and I think it’s real good improvement for the team.”
Combined with their 3-1 win over the Regina Cougars Friday night at Masich, it was a productive home-opening weekend for the T-wolves (1-1-2) on their new field turf pitch.
Last season, on their way to their first-ever playoff berth as a university team, the T-wolves scored just nine goals in a 14-game season. This year, through four games, they’ve already scored seven. The addition of American import Sofia Jones and the emergence of Payne as a scoring threat has added a new dimension to the young UNBC crew and head coach Neil Sedgwick likes what he’s seen so far.
“We’re creating more good goal-scoring opportunities which is fantastic for the group because we’ve worked on that the last few years and things are coming together for us,” said Sedgwick.
“Saskatchewan is a well-organized team and all their players are strong physically, they’re strong technically, so it was a real challenge for us. But great to see the character of the girls in the second half to come back. They performed really well.”
The Huskies (0-0-4) are still looking for their first victory and their disappointment at blowing the lead in a game they largely controlled was obvious.
“I thought our girls played an unbelievable 85 minutes and we just didn’t have the composure or the experience and it was a little bit of fatigue in the last five or seven minutes,” said Huskies head coach Jerson Barandica-Hamilton. “They need to understand that in this league you need to play 90 minutes or more to secure three points. UNBC is a fantastic team and if you give them opportunities to get back into the game they’ll take them and that’s what we have to learn.”
Two goals down isn’t a huge lead and we kept going right to the end.
— Mara McCleary
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Sunday afternoon in Saskatoon, the UNBC men rolled to a 3-0 triumph over Saskatchewan. Francesco Bartolilio scored twice in the opening half and assisted on Conrad Rowlands’ goal 80 minutes into the game to seal it.
Rob Goodey made six saves in net for the T-wolves, who improved their season record to 1-1-2. The Huskies (2-4-0) outshot UNBC 6-5.
The UNBC men will host the Lethbridge Pronghorns and Calgary Dinos this weekend. Friday night’s game will be the official opening of Masich Place Stadium, which has undergone $4.6 million renovations as the future site of the 2022 B.C. Summer Games.
The UNBC women play Friday at Fraser Valley and Saturday at Trinity Western.