Timberwolves fight back to tie UVic
Puck Louwes didn’t get to be the topranked university soccer goalie in Canada without paying her dues and making saves that leave opponents shaking their heads in disbelief.
Kind of like what she was doing Sunday afternoon against the UNBC Timberwolves.
The T-wolves didn’t get to test the sixfoot-one Victoria Vikes goalie very often in their Canada West conference Pacific Division battle at Masich Place Stadium, but the four shots they did put on goal were of the Grade-A variety.
Like when T-wolves midfielder Hannah Emmond was sprung on a breakaway pass from Sofia Jones in the opening minute of the first half. Louwes, a fourth-year U Sports veteran, instinctively ran out and dove to get her body in smothering range of Emmond’s hard shot.
Or when Louwes used her face to deflect a bullet drive from just 10 yards away off the foot of UNBC shooter Kiana Swift, who then hammered the rebound from only a few yards away off the goalpost.
But there was nothing the Victoria goalie could do to stop Paige Payne from collecting her team-leading fifth goal of the season, 77 minutes into Sunday’s game. Stopped on her initial shot, Payne tucked in a rebound low past the outstetched arms of Louwes to tie the game 1-1.
That was all the incentive the T-wolves (1-4-3) needed to lock up an important point against a tough divisional opponent and snap a three-game losing streak which included a 7-0 loss at Masich to the UBC Thunderbirds on Friday night.
“After the Friday result against UBC we just really wanted to show all the improvement we’ve made this season and I think that showed this game, being able to come back after being down one,” said Swift.
“Just the tenacity and aggressiveness we showed, I’m super-happy to be on this team.”
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Swift, an 18-year-old rookie from Sooke, had a chance for the winner in the 89th minute when she got to Payne’s kick from the corner but her header sailed over the crossbar.
Emmond, 19, a second-year midfielder, came in off the bench late in the first half and teamed up with her older sister Madison and defender Julia Babicz to provide the small gathering in the grandstand some local content to follow on the field, and all three Prince George products had their moments of brilliance.
“They are a very good team but today we brought out our best and played around them really well,” said Hannah Emmond. “We like to keep possession in the back and we play around the back a bit more to break other teams apart and we try to play through them and I think that’s where we get our chances. The one thing about our team is we never give up.”
The tying goal came just before Vikes sophomore defender Brea Christie had to be helped off the field after she got hurt in front of the Victoria net. Christie wanted to get back into the game not long after she got to the sideline and Vikes head coach Tracey David let the officials know she was ready to go back in, but Christie was still on the outside looking in with only 10 Vikes on the field when Payne scored.
“We’re pretty pissed,” said Louwes. “That was a really stupid call that cost us a goal. Because of that our centreback wasn’t there and they ran into that hole. That was some shocking refereeing.
“Of course, that wasn’t our best game. We didn’t bring it, especially in the first half, but we picked it up in the second half.”
Georgia Bignold opened the scoring for Victoria 52 minutes in, chipping a left-side shot high and in off the hand of goalie Brooke Molby.
David and the rest of the Vikes were still incensed at the referee’s decision as they packed up their gear for the trip back to Victoria.
“The referee should have allowed us to put Brea pack on the pitch, the fourth official did signal to her and we thought she would be on, otherwise we would have made adjustments,” said David. “So we were playing a man short in a crucial situation. Maybe we need to work at scoring more goals and we wouldn’t be talking about this. But these are big points and it’s unfortunate that the referee directly impacted the outcome of the game.
“Credit to UNBC, they worked us off the park.”
The T-wolves did have a decided edge in ball possession time and won most of the loose-ball battles against the Vikes (4-4-1), a team that lost just three graduating players from last year’s Canada West runners-up and fifth-place national finishers.
“I think it just shows the progress the program is making, the whole squad has lifted the level of training and on the field they just continue to stick to what our game model is and the way they came back after giving up a goal in the way we did was really good, especially against a team like UVic,” said UNBC head coach Neil Sedgwick. “We did extremely well and I’m happy for the girls. Puck is a fantastic keeper but we did get our chances and there were some great blocks in front of the goal. We were just able to create more than we have in the past and we’ve conceded some goals but were starting to tidy those pieces up.”
Victoria was coming off a 2-1 loss Friday in Edmonton to the Grant McEwan Griffins. The Griffins (5-2-1, third in the Pacific) will be in Prince George this weekend for a doubleheader against the T-wolves Friday and Saturday.
• The UNBC men, playing their third game in four days Sunday afternoon in Vancouver, lost 7-0 to the UBC T-birds. Kristian Yli-Hietenen scored four goals – three in the first half – and UBC took a 6-0 lead into the dressing room at the intermission. Thomas Gardner, Zach Verhoven and Connor Guilherme also scored for the T-birds (8-0-2), who tied the T-wolves 1-1 Friday.
Jason Roberts had just one shot to stop for his fifth shutout in 10 games this season. UBC outshot the T-wolves 9-1.
The UNBC men (4-2-3, fourth in the Pacific) earned four of a possible nine points on their road trip, which started with a 2-1 win Thursday in Victoria. They’ll head back on the road this weekend for games Saturday and Sunday in Kamloops against Thompson Rivers.