The University of the Fraser Valley women's soccer team dropped a 2-0 decision at home to the UBC Thunderbirds on Friday evening at Rotary Stadium.
Tess McRae opened the scoring in the 36th minute for the U SPORTS No. 4-ranked T-Birds, and with the Cascades pressing forward in second-half injury time, Sophie Damian rounded out the scoring.
The Cascades (0-3-2) had several solid scoring chances in the first half, but keeper Emily Moore came up with seven saves on the night for UBC (5-0-0).
The two teams wrap up the weekend set on Sunday afternoon (1 p.m., Rotary Stadium).Â
"It was a team effort defensively, and I liked that we didn't shut off and kept fighting and pushing throughout the game," UFV assistant coach
Shelby Beck said afterward. "There are just little errors we need to fix, and we need to capitalize on our chances when we do have them. The final third is where we're struggling right now, and once we can get that under wraps, I think we'll give teams a good run for their money."
The Cascades had the better scoring chances early – in the 13th minute,
Jashan Sandhar came racing down the right flank and sent in a cross, and
Jiya Kaila's close-range header was saved by Moore.
In the 32nd,
Avery Tulloch's corner found
Taylor Nekic's head, but her effort was blocked by a T-Birds defender.
Just three minutes later, the T-Birds broke the ice. The Cascades initially cleared a UBC corner, but the visitors were able to send it back into the box to McRae, and she had space to beat UFV keeper
Joven Sandhu with a rising shot into the top right corner.Â
Sandhu had a nice save later in the half, rising to tip Janika Sangha's shot over the bar.
The T-Birds kept the Cascades largely at bay in the second half, but
Halle McCambley gave the hosts some energy in the attack as the half wore on, and captain
Brittany Costa had a couple of attempts from distance that were easily handled by Moore.Â
In injury time, UBC put the game away – Danielle Steer's shot hit the crossbar, but fell to Damian for the close-range finish.
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