Women's soccer Huskies triumph in Grande Prairie
The Keyano Huskies women's soccer team ventured out onto the road for the first time this season, gaining more confidence and, more importantly, three more points in the standings with a 4-0 triumph over the Grande Prairie Regional College Wolves.
Sunday's victory, their second clean sheet in a row, featured Emma Bendera's first goal of the season, a pair of strikes by Natalie Orellana, and a goal by Blanca Palavecino.
"[It's] still not quite from the beginning, but finally most of the game, our game plan," said head coach Niels Slotboom. "That's the result we get there."
In a game that was a physical test from the start, the Huskies kept their cool and waited for the right moment to pounce.
The insertion of Sophie Griffiths to the lineup helped with that as the offensive pressure was sustained through several lead balls that found their way to the Liverpool, England product on the wing.
"At first I was a bit rusty and then I started to get the gist of it and then people were playing into me," said Griffiths, who was named the Player of the Game in her Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) debut. "It worked."
In the 28th minute, that offensive pressure paid off on the opposite side of Griffiths, with Bendera following up a Keyano chance with her first goal of the season, chipping the ball past the GPRC goalkeeper and defender.
"It's good that our players are sticking with it and not quitting if something doesn't go right," said Slotboom of the opening goal. "You always want to see that."
Taking the 1-0 lead into the second half, the Huskies took full control as Orellana scored from just outside the box in the 59th minute, banking the ball into the net off the post. In the 81st minute, she successfully converted a penalty kick into the same location to boost the lead to three.
"This one was really a team effort, so we had some different goal scorers and some different people stand out, but Natalie put the balls away that she had to," continued Slotboom. "[It was] a couple really nice individual efforts."
The icing on the win was a late strike by Blanca Palavecino, who equalled her 2019-20 goal total with a single strike.
"It was something that we chatted about before she came in," said Slotboom. "It was one of the highlights of the game."
A key feature of Sunday's win was seeing the consistent defence staying strong and the team's ball movement trending consistently upwards as substitutions brought added relief in the second half.
"I think the girls stuck with our game plan and worried about the things that we could control," said Slotboom. "It was good to see."
Now sitting at 2-1-0, the women's Huskies are tied for third in the ACAC North Division standings with the Concordia Thunder.
Both teams sit a single point back of the Lakeland Rustlers and NAIT Ooks, who have seven points each. However, the Ooks have played an extra game than the Rustlers, Thunder, and Huskies.
The women's Huskies return to action Sunday, October 3, taking to the road to face the Portage College Voyageurs. Kick-off is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.