Abbotsford, BC –
Madison Telmer scored to bring the Cascades back within one, but it was too little, too late as the UBC Okanagan Heat came up with the 2-1 victory on Sunday at Rotary Stadium in Abbotsford.Â
The result has potential playoff implications, as the Heat improve to 6-3-2 on the season and jump into a tie for third in the Canada West Pacific Division, while the loss drops the Cascades to 5-3-3 and into the fifth and final playoff position with three games remaining.Â
How it happened:
The Cascades found a great early chance, as
Simone Nagasaki's long ball forward sprung
Kiana Langston, who cut into the middle and fired a shot, but the attempt was pushed away uncomfortably by UBCO goalkeeper Talia Gagnon. Â
The Cascades continued to pour on the pressure in the first half, but struggled to find a better opportunity before the break.Â
UFV's
Alanna Sydenham came up with an important block in the 48
th minute, as the Heat's Stefanie Young found the ball at her feet in the box, but the Cascades' captain turned it aside.
UBCO found their breakthrough in the 55
th minute however, as Annabelle Walker drove into the box and stepped clear of a pair of defenders before firing it past
Kareena Sahota in the UFV goal.Â
The Heat doubled their advantage just 12 minutes later as Young found some space at the top of the box, and placed a shot perfectly into the bottom left corner for her league leading 13
th goal of the season.Â
The Cascades responded quickly when Telmer picked off an errant pass in the UBCO backline. The first-year took a couple of touches as she came in alone before blasting a shot into the bottom left corner to make it 2-1 in the 70
th minute.
UFV controlled the play over the next 20 minutes, but despite the unrelenting pressure they were unable to find a tying goal as the clock wound to zero.Â
Quotable:
UFV head coach Ari AdamsÂ
"We were defensively undisciplined today, lunging in where we haven't all season and we just lost our shape completely. We had a lot of poor decision making on and off the ball that led us to get broken down."
"It was a big game in terms of points, but now we have to reset and plan for a very big game next weekend. Other players are going to have to step up. We have been working on our tactics all year and they need to be ready to come in and prove that they can do it."
Up Next:
The Cascades have just a single game on their schedule for next weekend, as they host the Trinity Western Spartans at Rotary Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m. Meanwhile, the Heat get set to visit the TRU WolfPack on Friday in Kamloops.