T-Wolves Women Open With Spirited Home Draw

Brady Stark
Team Member

n the first game of the 2015 regular season

for the UNBC Timberwolves, the women
put on quite a show in front of a loud crowd
in P.G. Playing against their rival, the Heat,
from the T-Wolves came out on fire with a
plethora of chances on the Heat goalkeeper
Joella Koblischke, but she stood tall and kept
her team in the game. With the roaring of
the crowd, the ladies in gold charged up field
with crisp passes and fancy moves.

Around halfway through the first half of
the game, Sydney Hall broke open the
score with a beauty dangle on the left side
of the field before a nice touch of the ball,
put it up and over the keeper for the lead.
To have the wherewithal to fend off the
tight defense of the Heat and angle the ball
perfectly over the head of the keeper, was
reminiscent of Christine Sinclair during the
recent World Cup. And as the time wound
down on the first half, the momentum was
clearly on the side of the home team; all
that changed in the second half. The UBC-O
Heat came out in the second half with the
burning desire to at least tie the game up
and leave P.G with at least one point.

For the longest time, UNBC seemed able to
deny the Heat the goal they sorely deserved
as wave after wave to attacking blue crashed
the Timberwolves net, but goalkeeper Jordan
Hall was equal to the task. One would lose
track of how many times Hall had to come
out of her net to either snatch up the ball in
her gloves or kick the ball out of bounds just
to alleviate the pressure. Time after time
the Heat made beautiful crosses into the
T-Wolves penalty box, but Hall caught the
ball every time to keep her team up by one.

One of the most intense moments happened
in approximately the 75th minutes when
striker Michelle Smith sprung free of the
UNBC defenders and walked right into

the penalty box on the left side before
blasting a shot in the bottom left of the

net, with the reflexes that would have

made Catwoman jealous, Hall stretched

out her right arm to keep the ball out and
force a corner kick for the opponents.

However, the Heat were not to be denied.

With less than 5 minutes left in the game,
the Heat were awarded a corner kick. Once
again, Courtney Hemmerling of the Heat
place the ball exactly where she wanted

in the middle of the penalty and in a mad
scramble that confused even the most astute
fan, Ally Ferronato bounced the ball off of
her chested and directed past a sprawling
Jordan Hall to tie the game at 1 apiece. The
game ended as a 1-1 draw. Both teams had
their moments to shine and the defenses of

both teams were really the stars of the game.

The women of the match had to be Fionna
Raymond of the UNBC Timberwolves and
Justine Drosdovech of the Heat. Despite
having a last name that is a nightmare to
pronounce, Drosdovech was always at the
right spot at the right time. Every time
midfielders such as Tianna Rossi or Sydney
Hall decided to streak down the side of

the field, Drosdovech was there to deny
them a quality scoring chance; likewise
with Raymond. Not only did Raymond

have impeccable defensive skills, her
positioning was really the highlight of her
amazing performance. Working in tandem
with Tanya Grob, the back line was nearly
impenetrable the whole night. As the season
continues, look for these two defenders

to get even stronger as they get more and
more familiar with each other’s tendencies.

A fantastic evening with 20 degree
weather was capped off by a performance
that Timberwolves fans are hoping is a
positive sign towards seeing the women
get their first playoff berth in the CIS.

bs
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