By: Mateo De Dalmases
On a hot afternoon at the Burnaby Mountain campus, the Clan managed to beat, in overtime, a team that is used to training and playing in temperatures that are not far from today’s mid-thirties. It’s great news for our women’s soccer team, who are now 2–0 and still “setting the tone for the season and building their identity” as coach Annie Hamel said at the end of the match.
The first half of the match was well-controlled by SFU, with solid defence from our two centre backs Hollis Roeske and Emma Lobo, and some very dangerous attacking by Emma Pringle and Katelyn Erhardsen.
“The team has awesome freshmen who are stepping up and doing an awesome job,” said Hamel.
In the very last minute of the first period, Erhardsen took a shot off a great play by Lauren Fuerderer and Samantha Donald which was blocked by the Golden Eagles’ keeper Adriana Maldonado. This play was the last chance of the first half of the game, which ended with a 0–0 tie.
The second period began similarly to how the first one ended, with SFU taking control of the ball and game while California State continued to look for offense through their quick left winger, Paulina Chaidez.
It was through Chaidez that the Golden Eagles scored the first goal of the game. She managed to dribble through several SFU players and assist to her teammate Victoria Arredondo, who kicked the ball into an empty net. Our goalkeeper Priya Sandhu (Sr.) couldn’t have done anything to stop this great play.
With a 1–0 score in favour of the Golden Eagles, the Clan’s reaction was immediate and the game became an intense fight for every ball. While the tension grew, the Clan remained patient and did not let nerves interfere with their plan.
All the patience paid off in the 72nd minute when Fuerderer managed to pick up a loose ball that had been previously blocked by Maldonado. She shot it into the net for the first goal in her collegiate career, and to bring the game to a 1–1 tie.
Intensity in every play kept increasing. Just a few minutes before the end of regular time and with the match still tied 1–1, the California State’s head coach got a red card for rejecting a referee’s call.
After regulation time, both teams entered overtime and tried to dominate possession, but no one could fully control the game as the ball went from one side of Terry Fox Field to the other.
The score remained 1–1 up until there were two minutes left of the second overtime period. That was when Pringle managed to create a beautiful play that ended up provoking a penalty kick in favour of SFU after she received a poorly measured slide tackle from a California State defender.
In a highly tense atmosphere, Erhardsen proved to be a calm and confident player and shot the ball to the bottom left corner of the net to seal the victory.
Coach Hamel was satisfied with the win and said that it was really impressive “to be able to come back from a goal down and to never give up after just [a] 48-hour recovery from the previous game.”
Simon Fraser’s women’s soccer team will next host the Stanislaus State Warriors on Friday. Kickoff is at 5 p.m. at Terry Fox Field.
