OTTAWA, Ont. – UOIT's OUA title defence started out with a win over Carleton, but it did not come the conventional way.
After
Taijah Henderson (Ajax, Ont.) and
Cassandra Sribny (Pickering, Ont.) put the Ridgebacks up 2-0 in the opening ten minutes of the game, former Ridgeback Emily Copeland-Dinan stole the show.
Copeland-Dinan would score three goals in 24 minutes to stun the defending champions as the Ravens took a 3-2 lead into halftime. The Ottawa native has not been kind against her former team since transferring as she scored five goals in four matches.
After dominating possession in the second half, UOIT would eventually tie the game as
Alyssa Nikkel (Toronto, Ont.) scored her first career OUA goal in the 68th minute.
Just one minute later, UOIT veteran
Nicole Zajac (Ajax, Ont.) would complete the comeback recording her tenth career goal, finishing off a one-timer in the box.
Making her first career opening day start,
Victoria Savage (Woodbridge, Ont.) made six saves in the victory. Yazmeen Jamieson stopped 10 of 14 Ridgeback shots on target.
UOIT will close out the second leg of their weekend in the nation's capital with an afternoon affair against the Ottawa Gee-Gees. Ottawa comes off of a 4-1 victory over Trent on Saturday.
The Ridgebacks have already bested their point total compared to the same road trip one year ago where they dropped a 3-1 decision to Ottawa and tied Carleton 2-2.
UOIT's home opener will take place on Saturday, Sept. 2 against Trent. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.
NOTES: UOIT midfielder
Katherine Koehler-Grassau plus coaches
Peyvand Mossavat and
Farzad Yousefian were not available at the game because they are representing Canada at the 29th Summer Universiade in Taipei.
QUICK LOOK AT THE RIDGEBACKS
Overall Record: 1-1-1
Conference Record: 1-0-0
Next Game: Sunday, Aug. 27 @ Ottawa (1 p.m.)
