Victoria, BC – Halle McCambley's third goal of the season clinched all three points for the UFV Cascades, as they secure their best start to a season through five games since 2015.
How it happened
The Cascades pressed early, getting a pair of terrific opportunities in the eighth minute. McCambley's close range shot was stopped, before a Kiana Langston chance on the ensuing corner was turned away by a Vikes defender on the goal line.
The Vikes had their best chance of the half in the 41st minute, as they forced a turnover deep in the UFV end, but the shot by Emma Skalik went well wide of the left post.
The Cascades found their breakthrough in the 48th minute, as Sarah Belcher received the return pass after a throw-in and played a cross into the Victoria box. Halle McCambley rose to meet the ball, and deftly flicked the header into the back of the net past Vikes keeper Kayley Lidstone.
Victoria pushed to find an equalizer as Ruby Nicholas burst past a pair of defenders into the box in the 67
th minute, but their rising shot went just over top of the bar.
Despite pressure from the Vikes, UFV remained organized defensively. A 90
th minute run by Jasdeep Deol into the corner while shrugging off three defenders helped the team close out the victory, as Cascades' keeper
Kareena Sahota kept the clean sheet.
Quotable
Cascades head coach Ari Adams:
"Today the girls were really focused. Coming from MRU it was a tough travel weekend, but we were focused as a team, and everyone bought into our game plan. The atmosphere is really good with the girls right now, and we are just getting better and better, so I'm excited for the rest of the season."
"This is the kind of thing we need from individual performances. Jasdeep [Deol] comes in for two minutes and helps us close it out. That's playing a role. Rylan [Gray] came in off the bench in the second half and did absolutely fantastic. Dispossessing, getting up the field and contributing for the goal. It's just those little things that will get us these wins."
Cascades head coach Ari Adams on the play of McCambley
"She's one that our rookies really need to follow in the footsteps of and match her intensity levels. She ran more than any player on the field today and worked so hard on defence and offence, and it showed. It's great to see a senior leading like that."
Where they sit
UFV now moves to 3-1-1 on the season to make it their best start through five games since 2015 when they began the season 4-0-1. Meanwhile, Victoria drops to 2-3 so far this campaign. The Cascades now head off for their final two road games of the season next week where they will face the University of Lethbridge and the University of Calgary Saturday and Sunday. The team will then return home for a seven game homestand to end the regular season.
