In their opening matches of non-conference play, SFU’s women’s soccer team suffered double-header defeats against the University of Hawaii-Hilo. Early stages of both matches saw stout defending and resistance to the Vulcans’ pressure thanks to the defensive leadership of Clan senior Kelsey Atherley. Freshman goalkeeper Priya Sandhu showed great confidence between the woodwork in the opening stages and was quick off her line.

While their first match was limited to just one goal from an unlucky rebound, the return leg provided far more struggle for SFU.

Despite keeping their first match scoreless for the first 45-minutes, the Vulcans were able to break the deadlock early in the second game. A handful of fearless and aggressive slide tackles in the opening minutes led the Clan to concede a penalty kick in the 23rd minute. Kristine Pasek’s ensuing penalty kick was unstoppable for Sandhu. With 10 minutes left in the half, Clan sophomore Kate Pearsall showed great composure to chest down Devon Kollmyer’s corner and volley home the equalizer.

The Vulcans were quick to snatch the lead again just minutes later, after an unmarked Taylor Wright side-volleyed a corner kick from Amanda Dominguez just two minutes later. Second half proceedings continued much like the first, with the Clan soaking in some strong pressure from the Vulcans with more defensive prowess.

Pearsall continued to alter the game with her surging run to the opponents box in the 58th minute and thru ball to Sierra Leung, but the move was quickly cut out by Hawaii’s defence. Ten minutes later, the Clan were given their best chance to equalize after the Vulcan keeper spilled across into the box, but Andrea Di Lorenzo was pressured out of scoring.

Defending from set-pieces was, again, a weak point for the Clan after Caroline Stromick gave the Vulcans their two-goal lead with a stunning volley from another corner kick with just 10 minutes left. Unfortunately the Clan were unable to recover from the deficit and finished with a tough loss.

“We’ve introduced a different style of soccer to the girls, it’s a process, so once that develops then we hope the results will go our way,” said assistant coach Anna Picarelli.

Assistant coach Chris Sargeant added, “We could do better with defensive shape, and then introduce ways to play through opposing teams and hopefully we will get more chances that way.”