By John Fisher
The Dinos women’s soccer squad headed west last weekend to embark on their first road trip of regular season play. Before their road trip they were the only undefeated team in the Canada West league and goalkeeper Charlotte Sullivan was yet to allow a single goal into her net.
Leg one of the trip was Thu., Sept. 30 against the blessed Trinity Western University Spartans. Speculation was high that the Dinos would bump the thumpers from TWU but somehow, the Spartans managed to harness some divine grace and maintain a 0-0 affair that was sort of like spending ten years in purgatory. Although Sullivan maintained her no goals policy, the Dinos still hoped for a little more.
Well, if more was what they wanted, they certainly got it on Sat., Oct. 2. Unfortunately, “more” came from the first place University of British Columbia Thunderbirds offence as they avenged their earlier loss to the Dinos. Bad things certainly came in threes as the tricky but trashy T-Birds torridly tucked a trio of terrible tallies into the target of the terrified and tormented Dinos! After posting only a lone goal, the Dinos fell hard, letting the T-Birds fly away with a final score of 3-1.
Feeling a little distraught, the Dinos looked to Sunday as a forum for possible redemption against the University of Victoria Vikes. In what was certainly a stronger game for our ladies, the checking was fierce and the goalkeepers were edgy. After the first half, the score remained 0-0 and the game started to resemble Thursday’s draw against the Spartans. It was in the second half when things started to heat up as the Vikes forward Liz Hansen dropped a bomb behind Sullivan, causing the Dinos to fall under some pressure.
Not wanting to set the table and eat the same meal as Saturday, the Dinos cooked up a little something special and her name was Joanne Ng. This culinary surprise smelled ever-so-sweet as it came in the form of a curling top corner goal that left the Vikes goalkeeper with a fork but no food! Even though the momentum changed after Ng’s goal, the game seemed to be insolvable as the chances were even, but no one could get a go ahead goal. The final score ended up 1-1. The Dinos gained a point out of the deal and a total of two points all trip.
Although they had aimed higher, two ties wasn’t bad considering that among their opponents were the number one and two positions in the league standings. The girls look to fare a little better this upcoming weekend as they have a doubleheader in the “land of the living skies.” They take on the last placed University of Regina Cougars Oct. 9-10.