WSOC | Voyageurs Down Lakers for First Win of Season
The Voyageurs' performance on a rainy Sunday afternoon was absolutely immaculate, like it was scripted in the stars, as they took down their Northern rivals by a score of 3-1.
The first half was a see-saw battle between both sides. They both recorded an equal amount of shots on goal but only the Voyageurs found the back of the net. Mia De Gasperis opened the scoring in the 19th minute on an assist from Amanda Cuthbert and in the process also notched her first goal of the season. The second goal came just a minute later in 20th minute when Chantae Robinson also scored her first goal of the season on an assist from Elizabeth Anderson.
The Voyageurs were flying high after their early breaks and continued their offensive onslaught. In addition to their offensive prowess, the Voyageurs also had a strong defensive match. For instance, towards the conclusion of the first half, the Lakers earned a number of good goal scoring opportunities that were dispatched away by the Voyageur defence, highlighted in the 40th minute when Victoria Galluzzo blocked a shot towards an empty net.
That was followed up when, in the dying minutes of the half, Heather McGregor made a sprawling deflection that found a Laker who had a sure-fire goal had it not been for the amazing defensive effort of Clare Desk who was at the right place at the right time to kick the ball away, as the first half came to a close with the Voyageurs holding a comfortable 2-0 lead.
The second half was mostly dominated by the Lakers as they looked to get back into the match. They had higher ball possession and outshot the Voyageurs by 8-3. But, to the Voyageurs' credit, they defended with increased vigor and denied the Lakers a victory. In the 76th minute, Madison Logan of the Lakers received an accurate through-ball that resulted in her scoring the first goal for her team and it seemed to ignite a fire in their hearts as they successfully managed a number of good scoring opportunities following the goal but nothing came of them. One such opportunity came in the 80th minute when the Lakers earned a free kick on the edge of the Voyageurs' penalty box. Once again, McGregor rose to the occasion and made a spectacular diving save as an impressive shot was rocketed towards the top left corner of the net.
The Voyageurs would put the game away in the 88th minute when Julia Pulente was sent all alone on net via a pass from Mia De Gasperis and, with just the keeper to beat, she made no mistake, rifling the ball past the goal keeper and into the net for her first University career goal to seal the victory for the Voyageurs.
"It was good for the team. [Nipissing] were down 2-1 and I just feel like they were pushing really hard to score another goal and we just needed something else to keep us going," said Pulente after the match. "[It feels] amazing. I've been working really hard in practice and obviously throughout preseason and training in the summer time so I've been working as hard as I possibly can and all the hard work clearly paid off today so it's a good feeling that I'm working towards something and it finally paid off and hopefully it can continue and [in] future games, I can keep scoring because it's an awesome feeling," continued Pulente about her emotions after scoring her first university career goal.
She further commented on what was going through her head in the moments that led up to the goal and how well prepared she was to make the most of a good opportunity: "When I got it, I saw where the goalie was positioned and I knew that it was [an] easy goal if I shot it right in the left corner because she was out of place. I knew where to shoot it, we've been practicing tons of shooting in practice and similar situations to that where the goalie is on this side so I just knew where to place the ball when the goalie is out of position."
Furthermore, Megan Chiovitti described the joy of earning the first win of the season by saying the following in her post-game comments: "It feels really great. I think, we've just been working really hard all season so far and we haven't had the outcomes we wanted and finally it's come. It might have not been the prettiest but we got it and that's all that matters."
She also expanded on the team's mentality and what they need to do for future success: "The number one thing is just to work hard, everything you have, leave it all out on the field and I think for us, that's what we're really good at; is just working hard, working together and being there for each other and working hard will beat any team that doesn't put that in, put that extra effort in."
The Voyageurs now travel to Kingston to take on the RMC Paladins on September 28. Kick-off is scheduled for 12 pm.
Wali Khan
Sports Writer