A second-half scoring outburst from
Harneet Dadrao powered the University of the Fraser Valley women's soccer team to a 3-1 road win over the Thompson Rivers WolfPack on Saturday evening.
The Cascades had built a 1-0 lead at the half on
Alanna Sydenham's goal, but the host WolfPack equalized in the 54th minute on a Katie Gleddie strike.
Dadrao took over at that point, though, scoring in the 71st and 84th minutes to allow the Cascades – coming off
a 3-0 win on Friday at Hillside Stadium – to claim all six points available to them on this road trip.
UFV improved to 2-4-2, while the WolfPack fell to 0-8-2.
"We definitely came out flying a little more yesterday, but I was proud of our effort," UFV assistant coach
Shelby Beck said afterward. "We got some great goals, and once we took the lead again, we stayed on our front foot and kept pressing forward.
"I was super-proud as a coach, and it's nice to come away with two wins."
Cascades defender Sydenham, playing her 22nd career Canada West game, notched her first career goal in the 14th minute after coming forward for a corner kick. Dadrao's effort from the corner appeared to be headed on by
Taylor Nekic, and Sydenham, at the far post, beat a TRU defender to the ball and banged it in.
UFV maintained the one-goal edge through halftime, but Gleddie drew the WolfPack even early in the second half. Makaela Gelowitz ventured into the box from the right and sent a pass across the front of goal to Gleddie, who finished from close range.
The Cascades gained some attacking mojo at that point as senior
Simi Lehal – who started the game at centre back – was moved up the pitch in an effort to generate offence. The move paid off, as Lehal worked a slick little one-two passing play to spring Dadrao, and she made no mistake, beating WolfPack keeper Marissa Young with a rising shot inside the right post.
The Cascades weren't done – captain
Brittany Costa made a great defensive play to steal the ball off a throw-in, then took off down the pitch on a long run before sliding a pass to
Jiya Kaila. The rookie forward in turn moved the ball along to an on-rushing Dadrao with space to operate, and Young had no chance on her rising blast.
It was the first career multi-goal game for Dadrao, a Surrey, B.C. product who was a Canada West and U SPORTS all-rookie selection back in 2018.
"She's a terrific player, and she's been a little bit on herself, coming off ACL surgery and trying to get back into things," Beck said of Dadrao. "She had a positive mindset coming into today's game, and it paid off with a couple of beautiful goals. I'm really happy for her, that she was able to bag a couple."
The Cascades soccer teams return home to Abbotsford to host the UNBC Timberwolves next weekend. Games run Friday (women 5:30 p.m., men 8 p.m.) and Sunday (women 1 p.m., men 3 p.m.) at Rotary Stadium.
