KELOWNA, B.C. – The UBC Okanagan Heat women's soccer team dominated the UFV Cascades from the opening whistle, not allowing a single shot on goal, as they came away with a 2-0 victory on Friday night at Nonis Sports Field.
The Heat controlled possession throughout the match, rarely allowing the Cascades to hold onto the ball for any stretch of time. As a result, UBCO heavily outshot the visitors with Heat holding a 22-3 edge in shot attempts and 8-0 in shots on goal.
Midfielder
Nina Louis of Vancouver, B.C., opened the scoring for the Heat in 10
th minute. The third-year health and exercise sciences major took a pass from
Abigail Taneda of West Kelowna, B.C., off the corner kick before firing a seeing-eye shot that snuck past multiple defenders and the Cascades keeper for her first of the season to put the hosts up 1-0.
For Taneda, the assist extends her team record for most assists in a career to 11 and leaves her four points shy of Stephanie Young's team record of 20.
UBCO would have many additional chances to stretch the lead in the opening 45 minutes, none better than rookie fullback
Maya Letellier of Calgary, who hit the crossbar from 20 yards out midway through the half.
The Heat would find their second of the contest less than a minute into the second half. Fourth year midfielder
Annika Gross of Kelowna, B.C., would see her pass deflect right to
Sydney Kolodziej of Kelowna, B.C., and the midfielder would make no mistake, slotting a shot past UFV keeper Addison Chen of Edmonton.
UBCO would cruise from there with keeper
Talia Gagnon of Dieppe, N.B., not being tested en route to her second win and second clean sheet of the season. The shutout moved her into a tie with Francesca Balletta with four clean sheets in her career, the most all-time in school history.
TOP PERFORMERS
MF Annika Gross – UBCO
The fourth-year midfielder was a dominant force in the middle of the pitch, acting as ball distributor and defensive stopped over the course of 90 minutes. She would also add the fourth assist of her Heat career in the win.
GK Addison Chen – UFV
The second-year keeper did all she could to keep her team in the match, finishing the match with six saves.
UP NEXT
The Heat (2-0-0) will be back in action at Nonis Sports Field on Saturday evening as they wrap up a three-game homestand against the Trinity Western Spartans (1-0-0). Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. and tickets to the game are free for all fans.
