Three second half goals from three different goal scorers paced the No. 3-ranked Trinity Western Spartans to a comfortable 3-0 road victory over the Alberta Pandas on Saturday.
Jenaya Robertson, Kathryn Harvey and Nicole Bolder all scored to lead the Spartans (4-0-1) to a win over the Alberta Pandas (3-1-1) at Foote Field on Saturday.
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The first real opportunity of the match fell to Rachel Hutchinson (Cloverdale, B.C.) of the Spartans, who was sprung on a break, but Pandas goalkeeper Ashley Turner came out of her net to cut down the angle to make a good save. Alberta had a 5-4 advantage in shots in the first half, but the opening 45 minutes ended without either team finding the back of the net.
Trinity Western came out strong in the second half, with Robertson hitting the crossbar off a corner kick in the 51st minute, before she was finally able to open the scoring in the 54th minute. Danielle Thune (Abbotsford, B.C.) swung in a great ball on a free kick and Robertson got on the end of it, giving the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
Trinity Western added to their lead just ten minutes later, when an errant back-pass allowed Harvey to break in alone, and she made no mistake, coolly slotting the ball home to make it 2-0 Spartans.
TWU made it 3-0 in the 74th minute, as Gabi Short played a perfect ball in to Bolder, who struck the ball in stride, beating Turner, and sealing the three points for the Spartans.
Alberta’s best chance to get on the board came in second half stoppage time when Aly Parth’s shot from distance hit the post. Hannah Miller kept the clean sheet, her third of the season.
Trinity Western outshot the Pandas 14-8, with shots on target being 8-4 in favour of the visitors.
TWU coach Graham Roxburgh said a “very aggressive” Alberta made the team work for their victory.
“We had a two really good chances early that we just didn’t bury, which had we scored I think the game would have opened up a bit. Lots of credit to Alberta, they are a hard-working team with a number of weapons, so I was pleased to come to half tied at zero.”
The Spartans victory over the Pandas snapped a three-game winless streak dating back to Sept. 29, 2001 and was the Spartans first victory ever recorded against Alberta (1-2-1).
TWU has now won four games in a row and sits tied for first in the Pacific Division with Calgary (4-0-1).
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