Photo credit Martin Bazyl
TORONTO (CIS) – Second-year forward Paula Dadensky scored the lone goal in leading the Canada West champion Alberta Pandas to a 1-0 victory over the Laval Rouge et Or in the second quarter-final of the 2013 CIS women’s soccer championship on Thursday afternoon at Varsity Centre.
It was the second time the two teams had ever met on the national stage, with Alberta also taking the first game, 2-1, as the hosts of the 2002 tournament.
The Pandas advance to Saturday’s first championship semifinal at 1:30 p.m., and will take on the Montreal Carabins, who defeated the Western Mustangs 2-1 in the first quarter-final of the day. The Pandas are after their seventh CIS final berth in 12 appearances. They last won the title, one of three in program history, in 2001 when they defeated the McGill Martlets 2-1 in Ottawa.
Laval will face Western in consolation semi-final action tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.
“To get through this first game I think it takes a lot of heart and desire and passion and that’s what I saw,” said Alberta Pandas head coach Liz Jespen. “Laval is a dangerous team and I think it was about weathering the storm. It was about whether or not we could keep that momentum going and not give them the opportunity to get in at the net.”
Dadensky proved to be the games hero, notching the game-winner in the 65th minute. The Stettler, Alta., native placed a header perfectly past Laval goalkeeper Joëlle Morasse (Québec City, Que.) off a Rebecca Brandt (Edmonton) corner kick.
Laval’s Mélissande Guy of Quebec City almost evened the score in the 77th minute, but her breakaway shot sailed just wide of the Pandas net. The Rouge et Or had a couple of corner kick opportunities in the final minute of action, but was unable to net the equalizer in the 1-0 loss.
“I think both teams had their chances,” said Laval assistant coach Marie-Pier Bilodeau. “They were able to score on one of their opportunities, whereas we missed a couple of good chances one-on-one with the keeper. That’s what made the difference.”
SCORING SUMMARY:
ALB 0-1: 1
LAV 0-0: 0
First Half
(no scoring)
Second Half
1. ALB Paula Dadensky (1) (Rebecca Brandt), 65th
Goalkeepers:
ALB: Kelti Biggs (W, 0 GA, 2 save, 90:00, 1-0)
LAV: Joëlle Morasse (L, 1 GA, 3 saves, 90:00, 0-1)
Team Stats
Shots: ALB 10, LAV 8
Shots on net: ALB 4, LAV 2
Corners: ALB 6, LAV 4
Offsides: ALB 1, LAV 2
Fouls: ALB 6, LAV 9
Yellow cards: LAV (Mélissande Guy), ALB (Jessie
Candlish)
Red cards: none
Players of the game:
ALB: Laura Kautz
LAV: Mélissande Guy
SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Thursday, Nov. 7
11:00 Quarter-final 1: Montreal 2, Western 1
13:30 Quarter-final 2: Alberta 1, Laval 0
16:30 Quarter-final 3: Wilfrid Laurier vs. Trinity Western (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
19:00 Quarter-final 4: Cape Breton vs. Toronto (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
Friday, Nov. 8
13:30 Consolation 1: Western vs. Laval (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
16:30 Consolation 2: Loser QF 3 vs. Loser QF 4 (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
Saturday, Nov. 9
13:30 Semifinal 1: Montreal vs. Alberta (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
16:30 Semifinal 2: Winner QF 3 vs. Winner QF 4 (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
Sunday, Nov. 10
11:00 5th-place game (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
13:30 Bronze medal (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
16:30 Championship final (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, 11,000 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 55 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:
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