A formation change in the second half gave the Cowichan Cougars the push they needed to salvage a 2-2 tie with Vic West at Evans Park last Sunday.
The Cowichan O30A women’s soccer team battled hard from the start but gave up a goal in the dying minutes of the first half. Vic West kept pushing in the second half and scored a second goal with 20 minutes left when the Cougars made the change they needed.
“We switched to a 3-4-3 system,” defender Ali Garnett explained. “We needed to create some more offence and at that point it wouldn’t matter if we lost by two goals or three goals.”
The new formation paid off right away as the Cougars created consistent pressure and caused turnovers in the Vic West end. With less than 10 minutes to go, the Cougars earned a corner kick that Jenna Waddy curled into a tangle of players in front of the net, where it was directed in by Jen Mann.
“The ball just ricocheted off my hip and in,” Mann said of her first goal of the season. “It was the spark we needed to keep pushing.”
With nothing to lose, the Cougars threw everything they had at tying the score. In the final minute, Stacey de Lusignan broke free and slammed a shot over the goalie and off the crossbar. The rebound fell to Waddy, who volleyed it in to complete the comeback.
Cowichan will travel south this weekend to visit a Prospect Lake team that beat them at home two weeks ago.
