Horns get the points
Points needed, points taken. The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s soccer team understood that point and grabbed three of them on their way to their first victory of the Canada West season following a 2-1 win over the Saskatchewan Huskies Sunday afternoon at the University of Lethbridge Stadium.
In a battle of two teams looking for their first wins of the season, Raeleen Vanden dungen scored her first goal of the season 21 minutes into Sunday’s game and Lindsay Amatto added what stood up as the game-winner as the Pronghorns improve to 1-61.
More importantly, those crucial points move the Horns into a three-way tie with the Huskies (0-4-4) and the Winnipeg Wesmen (0-4-4) for the sixth-and-final playoff spot in the Canada West Prairie Division.
“This is huge for us,” said Pronghorns head coach Ilsa Wong. “We talked about it at the beginning of the game and at halftime. This league is so tight that we just need to get a few points here and there and you never really know what can happen. So this is a massive step for us.”
After Vanden Dungen gave the Horns a 1-0 halftime lead, Amatto puts the hosts up 2-0 midway through the second half.
“I think we got a couple of not necessary lucky bounces, (but) we were in the right place which is great and the ball went in when we needed it to,” said Wong.
But the two-goal lead didn’t last long as the Huskies marched back downfield and made it 2-1 38 seconds after Amatto’s goal on a tally from Payton Izsak.
“I think we were a little bit shocked at first, but then we tried to pick it up and work hard,” said Vanden Dungen, a third-year midfielder from Vauxhall. “There were some scary moments and it was in our end a little more than I would’ve liked. But we were able to keep it out of the net.”
For that, the Pronghorns hauled in three key points as they head back to the U of L Stadium Thursday night to host the University of Calgary at 5 p.m.
The Dinos are 7-1-0 and second in the Prairie Division, one back of the 7-0-1 Alberta Pandas.
“This puts gives us the ability to get back in it to a playoff spot and it's nice to be rewarded for our hard work,” said Vanden dungen. “I think we worked really hard and we were passing well. So it’s exciting to get our first win.