Vernon’s Kirsten Dodds scored once to lead UBC Okanagan Heat to a 2-0 exhibition women’s soccer win in Calgary against the Mount Royal Cougars.
The Heat split their quick jaunt to Alberta, losing 3-0 to the Calgary Dinos.
“It was another good road trip for the team,” said UBCO head coach Claire Paterson. “We definitely saw improvements from our first weekend of exhibition play as the players are now getting more comfortable with each other and the style we want to play.”
A few of the Heat’s freshmen came up big in the game against the host Mount Royal Cougars on Saturday evening, as first-year striker from Kelowna, Courtney Hemmerling, notched her first goal in a Heat uniform. Hemmerling’s goal and the 90-minute shutout posted by freshman keeper Francesca Balletta (Burnaby) drove UBC Okanagan to the win over the Cougars.
Dodds, a senior forward, scored the other goal.
“We played well on Saturday versus Mount Royal, maintaining possession and creating several solid goal scoring opportunities,” said Paterson. “We managed to finally put two away in the second half which was out of sheer hard work and we claimed our first victory and shutout his season.”
The Heat then stared down a veteran Canada West squad in the Calgary Dinos, who overcame a persistent offensive assault from UBC Okanagan, and blanked the Heat 3-0.
Paterson needed to mix and match with who was on the field with the quick turnaround in games.
“Our second match, we had to juggle our lineup a bit from the previous match and test out some of our new players in different positions,” she said. “Calgary played well moving the ball quickly and pouncing on us when we got possession. A couple of errors on our part were punished but that is a very important lesson to learn as we move forward.”
The Heat played host to Douglas College of North Vancouver in an exhibition game Thursday at Nonis Sports Field.
Canada West action begins in Prince George Sept. 6 and 7, with the first league home game on Friday, Sept. 12 against Fraser Valley.
The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men’s squad visits Prince George this weekend for two Labour Day weekend exhibition games with the UNBC Timberwolves.
The Pack, whose lineup includes Vernon products Finlay McPhie and Mike Bennett, and Enderby’s Corey Wallis, with Vernon’s Sebastian Gardner as an assistant coach, played three pre-season games last weekend in Edmonton.
TRU played to a 3-3 draw against an Edmonton senior men’s club side, the Scottish, and drew 2-2 with Grant MacEwan College.
The Pack fell 4-0 to the Calgary Dinos.
