UFV’s women’s soccer team was in full force this weekend, hosting Thompson River University (TRU) on Friday, and the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO) on Saturday. After losing both games last weekend to TRU, the Cascades had gone their last eight games without a win. With these two games being the last of the regular season for the Cascades, the team looked to end their season on a high note.
Friday night’s game saw the Cascades trailing the TRU Wolfpack early on. At roughly the three-and-a-half-minute mark, TRU’s Camryn Curts scored when UFV’s goalkeeper, Andrea Perkovic’s initial save deflected the ball into the path of Curts. With nothing between Curts and the net, she kicked the ball straight in. Following up Curts’ goal, TRU were able to push their lead to two when the Wolfpack’s Taylor Miller scored while on a breakaway, just before the 25-minute mark.
Although the Cascades were down two goals with a quarter of the game behind them, they were determined to fight for the win. Within the next four minutes of play after Miller’s goal, the Cascades were able to answer with two points of their own. The first goal came when Cascades’ Brittney Zacharuk shot the ball from the left side of the box. With no one around her, Zacharuk smacked the ball into the top-left corner of the net.
Following this was the tying goal by Cascades’ Kate Fisher. After initially deflecting a pass from Zacharuk toward the net, Fisher was able to recover and gain possession of her own rebound. On the crease, Fisher slid into the ball foot first, tapping it into the back of the net. Minutes before the half was over, Cascades’ Katie Lampen also scored. Lampen’s goal saw the Cascades take the lead for the first time in the match.
Determined to continue the pressure the Cascades started in the first half, UFV took a total of 10 shots in the second, while also keeping the Wolfpack to only five. With a great defensive effort, the Cascades were able to stop TRU from scoring again. The only change to the score in the second half came when Zacharuk scored her second of the night for the Cascades in the 78th minute of play.
After a 4-2 win over TRU, the Cascades had just over 24 hours until their game against the UBCO Heat. Much like Friday’s game, the Cascades saw themselves down early on. After only two minutes and 35 seconds, Jillian Hunt of the Heat scored the first goal of the night; however, the Cascades answered fast. Within only 14 minutes of Hunt’s goal, the Cascades’ Katie Lampen was able to answer with a pair of her own goals. Following Lampen’s second goal, Zacharuk was able to add to the Cascades’ lead. With Zacharuk’s third goal of the weekend, the Cascades ended the first half of Saturday’s game, 3-1.
Early into the second half, the Cascades were awarded another point when UBCO accidentally scored on their own net. Following this error, neither team could change the score for the majority of the half. With less than 10 minutes of play in the game, the Heat’s Erica Reis was able to add to UBCO’s score. However, with this goal, the Cascades were still too far ahead for the Heat to catch up. After Reis’ goal, the game concluded shortly after with a score of 4-2 for the Cascades.
With the two wins this past weekend, the Cascades ended their season in fifth place in their division, clinching a playoff spot. This weekend was not only a milestone for the team as a whole, with three goals and three assists over the weekend, Brittney Zacharuk is now tied for the most goals ever for a Cascade player. In addition, Zacharuk has also become the Cascades’ all-time points record holder.
Image: UFV Athletics
