Jenaya Robertson scored early and Isabella di Trocchio celebrated her birthday by adding an insurance goal as the Trinity Western Spartans advanced to the CIS national semifinals.
The Spartans defeated the Cape Breton Capers 2-0 on Thursday (Nov. 12) in the quarter-finals of the women’s soccer national championships being held at UBC’s Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver.
“I thought that early goal settled us down — it was a fantastic goal by Jenaya, and a terrific ball in by Rachel (Hutchinson),” said Roxburgh.
“I thought that they defended us well, and made it tricky for us to find some of the open spaces. I thought that they compacted very well. We knew were going to have to be patient in order to score the second goal — it was an unbelievable goal. Not only the hit, but the buildup was excellent. We also defended very well – they’ve got some weapons and some pace, and I thought Cape Breton had the ability to play with structure, but they never really threatened us unless we made a mistake.”
Hutchinson, who was named the CIS rookie of the year at the awards banquet on Nov. 11, set up the first goal after making a terrific run down the right flank and delivering a beautiful cross to the far post, which Robertson was able to deflect past the Capers goalkeeper in the sixth minute.
And in the 67th minute, di Trocchio found some open space and let go off an absolute rocket from distance, placing the ball just under the bar and over the outstretched hands of the goalkeeper.
TWU keeper Ally Williamson made three saves to earn the clean sheet.
With the win, the Spartans advance to Saturday’s semifinal against the reigning national champion Laval Rouge et Or in a rematch of the 2014 CIS national championship.
