The Dinos women’s soccer team finally got their roar back as they chased, attacked and ultimately defeated the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns. They managed to bank seven goals beating the Pronghorns 5-1 and 2-1 in a home-and-home series this past weekend.
The wins bring the Dinos within one spot of a playoff berth as they sit seventh in the Canada West standings and only one point behind the University of Alberta Pandas.
The Dinos travelled to Lethbridge on Saturday to play a tough away game. The win was important for the morale and hopes of the team.
“It was probably the most crucial point of our season,” said forward Joanna Ng. “We were struggling and unlucky before, but we finally put it together and I think this is a major turning point.”
The Dinos dominated the Pronghorns all game, creating numerous scoring chances and controlling the ball for the majority of play.
Early in the game, Tessa Miller got free on a breakaway and made no mistake, blasting the ball past Megan Lumley, giving the Dinos a 1-0 advantage. This sparked another first-half goal from Lindsay Burrows who scored off a nice cross and the Dinos went into the half up 2-0.
The second half was similar to the first: the Dinos scored often and without mercy. Miller once again showed tremendous awareness and scored her second goal of the game, 3-0 Dinos.
Lethbridge had an opportunity in the 69th minute to cut into the lead, but Andrea Nippard sliced her penalty shot wide. The miss sparked the Dinos again and within three minutes, Saaraa Premji found herself alone in front of the net and lobbed the ball over Lumley, 4-0 Dinos.
The Dinos continued to play aggressively and Burrows scored her second goal, 5-0 Dinos.
Lethbridge was trounced on the day. The ‘Horns late goal by Marley Walker was just a statistic as the Dinos had the game in hand from the onset.
The second game– this time in Calgary– proved to be a defensive battle as only three goals were scored. Lethbridge grabbed an early lead five minutes into the game as Janelle Groten scored off a corner kick to put Lethbridge in the driver’s seat. The rest of the half was uneventful and the Dinos went into the locker room having lost the battle, but not the war.
The second half started with Lethbridge using their speed on offence to create scoring chances. The ‘Horns had several opportunities, but could not find the back of the net. The strong stance by the defence inspired Calgary and for the first time, they handled adversity as a team. A nice three-way passing effort put the ball at Morena Ianniello’s feet and she did the rest, scoring her second goal of the season and tying the game. The Dinos continued to retain control of the ball and were finally rewarded late in the half. Ng took a Miller pass and blew a shot past Lumley, giving the Dinos the lead for the first time in the game. The Dinos did not sit back and for the remainder of the game pressed the ‘Horns defence, but were unable to score again.
The Dinos showed a lot of heart as they managed to win their second game in a row in dramatic come-from-behind fashion. The offence came alive this weekend, scoring seven goals.
“A lot of the time before we were able to get chances, but hitting posts,” exclaimed Ng. “One weekend we had five posts in two games. A lot of our game is heart and effort and today everybody pushed for that extra goal and we won it together.”