CIS women's soccer Saturday roundup

Photo credit Ivan Tam, University of Saskatchewan Huskies 

Toronto 0,  Ottawa 0  Final 

Despite excellent defensive play the uOttawa Gee-Gees had to settle for a tie in their game against the Toronto Varsity Blues at Matt Anthony Field today. This brings the Gee-Gees' record to 5-1-2, putting them seven points back of Queen's with one game in hand.

Despite numerous offensive chances, including three dashed attempts to score within a mere ten minute period by second-year strikers Christine Hardie, Pictou, N.S. and Krista Draycott, Ottawa, Ont., in the first half alone, Ottawa could not find the back of the net.

"They're a very good team," said head coach Steve Johnson, "I thought we were quite good defensively...and I thought we created the more dangerous chances."

"We were very unlucky not to score," Johnson added.

Recording her third shutout in a row was third-year goalkeeper Mélissa Pesant, Gatineay, Qué., along with her Toronto counterpart fifth-year chemistry PhD student Katerina Vulic, Oakville, Ont. uOttawa was constantly matched for intensity by the Blues, who kept the pressure on the Gee-Gees early on.

"They play well," said fifth-year midfielder Élise Desjardins, Cumberland, Ont., "but they're beatable."

Tomorrow, the Gee-Gees take on Ryerson, who they beat earlier this year by a score of 1-0, but not without some trouble.

"We didn't have our best performance," added Desjardins, but maybe we can build on today with what we did defensively."

The Gee-Gees game against Ryerson will start at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow at Matt Anthony Field at the uOttawa Sports Complex.

Source: Ottawa Sports info

Carleton 1, Ryerson 0  Final 

OTTAWA - The Carleton University Ravens women's soccer team earned an important three points on Saturday afternoon as they came away with a 1-0 victory over the Ryerson University Rams at Ravens' Field.

With the win, the Ravens have a record of 3-3-2 for 11 points, four more than the Rams for sixth place in the OUA East standings.

The game started off fairly evenly matched. The Ravens looked like they had the first good opportunity to open the scoring when Samantha Nealon (Ottawa) got past the Rams defenders and came in one-on-one against goalkeeper Stefanie Webster (Mississauga, Ont.). But Elyse Hanec (Calgary) got back to make the tackle and the score remained 0-0. The Rams began to dominate the possession and the pressure. The Ravens weren't without their chances though as they managed to get behind the Rams back four on a few occasions. They were unable to get quality shots off until Ravens leading scorer, Shayla LaVecchia (Ottawa), broke in alone and beat Webster to give Carleton the 1-0 lead at the end of the first half.

LaVecchia continued her strong outing for Carleton as she was a major force behind the Ravens pressure and scoring chances in the second. With captain Kayla Wood (Bracebridge, Ont.) out, Valerie Hamilton (Ottawa) stepped up on defence and helped preserve Carleton's 1-0 lead. The Rams made one last good attempt to tie the game when Christina Lovatsis (Markham, Ont.) broke away from the Carleton defenders. Keeper Rachel Bedek (St. Thomas, Ont.) came out to challenge her and made the big save as the Ravens held on for the 1-0 win.

Tomorrow's match up against the University of Toronto is a big one as the Varsity Blues are only two points ahead of the Ravens for third spot in the OUA East. The teams kickoff at 1 p.m. at Ravens' Field.

Source: Carleton Sports Info

York 2, Guelph 0  Final

GUELPH, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphons women's soccer team matched up against the York Lions today (Oct. 2) at Alumni Stadium in Guelph. The game finished 2-0 for the Lions after goals from both Rita Keimakh (Maple, ON) and Nicole Markowitz (Toronto, ON).

The women's soccer team drops to 1-4-3, while the Lions advance to 3-5-0.

The majority of the first half was rather uneventful. Rainy conditions made the field slippery and wet, causing a number of player-to-player collisions along with some difficult passing. There were a lot of offside calls and many of the plays ended up shooting the ball out of bounds.

The first real action of the game came forty minutes into the first half when Keimakh fired the ball high into the Gryphon net, barley passing through the tips of Joelle Chartrain's (Calgary, ON) fingers. Gryphon midfielder Kristen Southgate (Bracebridge, ON) came alive in the last minutes of the first half and had a number of close calls on York's net.

York pushed through a number of attacks into Guelph territory and Chartrain wisely left her post many times to make some glorious saves. Guelph defence did a good job filling in the gaps when Chartrain was forced to leave the net. With only ten minutes left in the game Guelph took a corner shot and scored, but it was disqualified by an apparent off-side call.

It seemed like Guelph was well on their way to tie up the game after a number of close shots on York's net. But, the Lion's midfielder Markowitz sealed the Gryphon's fate with a goal in the 83rd minute. Chartrain dove but was unable to stop it in time, bringing the final score 2-0 for the Lions.

The Gryphons play the Brock Badgers next on October 3rd at the Alumni Stadium in Guelph. The game begins at 1pm.

Source: Guelph Sports info

Brock 1, McMaster 0  Final

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock Badgers women's soccer team (2-5-1 OUA) knocked off the McMaster Mauraders 1-0 in front of a supportive home crowd Saturday. Coming into the match McMaster was in 2nd place in the OUA West division and their loss was only the third of the season.

The first half was played defensively with few chances for each team. The best scoring chance by either team came off the foot of Badger rookie Alyssa Dagg (Niagara Falls, Ont.) as her strike from the top of the box sailed just over the cross bar.

Badgers senior Dayna Haig (Toronto, Ont.) scored the game's only goal, her second of the season, three minutes into the second half. Haig buried a header past McMaster goalkeeper Jocelyn Wilkins. The goal came on the third consecutive corner kick from third-year forward Cassandre Van Bakel (Aurora, Ont.).

Brock's senior goalkeeper Syreeta Rhoden (Niagara Falls, Ont.) was good when she had to be, making two saves to record the clean sheet.

The team is in action next on October 3rd when they visit the Guelph Gryphons for a 1 p.m. kick-off. The Badgers return home October 9th when they host the York Lions.

Source: Brock Sports Info

Other scores:

Cape Breton 3  Moncton 0  Final 

UPEI 2  Mount Allison 0  Final

Memorial 0  UNB 3

Trent 0  Nipissing 5  Final

Queen's 2  RMC 1  Final  

Dalhousie 3 StFX 0 Final

Waterloo 0  Windsor 2  Final