A late penalty shot against and an arguably missed call by the referee helped prevent Cowichan United from extending their winning streak in Div. 2 of the Lower Island Women’s Soccer Association.
Cowichan was dominating the second half of the match against Fernwood at the Sherman Road turf, and it was 1-1 when an odd penalty was called against Cowichan, even though they had possession of the ball. Fernwood made good on the opportunity to make it 2-1. Cowichan continued to press after that, and it wasn’t long before Maya Johnston was pulled down inside the box — a transgression that went unpunished.
“I thought Maya should have been awarded a penalty kick, but the ref didn’t see it our way,” said Neall Rowlings, who was filling in for absent head coach Adam Paulson. “All in all, it happens. Referees are part of the game and just people too.”
Fernwood started strong in the first half, controlling the first 25 minutes and opening the scoring.
“Our team was struggling as I was trying to get all seven substitutes some playing time,” Rowlings reported. “All the girls were good enough; it just wasn’t allowing us to gel on the field with the constant changes.”
Rowlings shortened the bench to four subs in the second half, and all the players responded. Kate Collins scored a beautiful goal to finish off an effort by Brittany Brown and Jada Hill to get her the ball at the top of the box. Collins nearly scored two more, Kelly Hall was robbed, and Hill came close to scoring herself prior to the penalty shot call.
Cowichan will visit the Lakers in Victoria this Sunday.
