It was a beautiful afternoon at Griffiths Stadium for the Women’s Soccer home opener against the University of Manitoba Bisons. Manitoba came into the bridge city with a record of 1-and-4, while the Huskies were looking to improve their win streak to 2 games after dropping their first of two on the road.
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The first half started out very slow for both teams, but a quick pass up the middle to Marie Kilcher resulted in a great scoring chance even though the play was ruled offside at the 33 minute mark. From that point on, it was all Huskies registering 4 out of the teams 9 first half shots in the final 11 minutes. Manitoba on the other hand only registered 5 shots in the first half, but both teams only directed 3 on goal. Goalkeeper Kalin Roberts wasn’t nearly as busy as Bisons goalkeeper Karina Bagi, but booth stood strong in net for their respective teams.
Kilcher registered 5 of the Huskies 9 shots in the first half, and remained as one of the Dogs top scoring threats well into the second half. Manitoba registered the first shot of the second half and Saskatchewan continued to apply the pressure once again. After that, the Huskies registered the next 4 shots, never allowing the Bison’s to cross midfield and making it very difficult for the defense to keep the game deadlocked at 0-0.
Kilcher once again had a prime scoring chance at the 74 minute mark for Saskatchewan, picking up a lose ball and having no defenders on her once again with what looked like a sure tie breaking goal. But Karina Bagi was in position and was able to get both hands up and deny Kilcher with the games best chance.
Manitoba was finally able to gain a little momentum at the 79 minute mark thanks to a blocked pass where Nicole Davis fired one just wide to the left of the net, and shortly after Taryn Cabak caught the Huskies scrambling in their own zone, and rang a shot off the crossbar for Manitoba’s best chance of the game.
At the 84 minute mark, the tie was finally broke thanks to Hailey Weber scoring her first of the season with Jade Houmphanh picking up the assist giving the Huskies a late 1-0 lead and the victory.
Head Coach Jerson Barandica-Hamilton:
GAME STATS TEAM
SHOTS: Manitoba 10-18 Saskatchewan
SAVES: Manitoba 6-4 Saskatchewan
CORNERS: Manitoba 1-11 Saskatchewan
FOULS: Manitoba 5-5 Saskatchewan
GAME STATS PLAYERS
Hailey Weber (1 Shot, 1 Shot on Goal, 1 Goal)
Jade Houmphanh (2 Shot, 2 Shot on Goal, 1 Assist)
Marie Kilcher (6 Shots, 2 Shots on Goal)
Alyssa D’Agnone (3 Shots, 1 Shot on Goal)
Nammi Nguyen (2 Shots)
Cheyenne Lehmann (1 Shot, 1 Shot on Goal)
Kalin Roberts (4 Shots on Goal, 4 Saves)
NEXT GAME: vs. Winnipeg Wesmen (0-3-2) on Sunday, September 10th at 2:00 p.m.