CORVALLIS, Oregon – The Trinity Western University women's soccer team finished their first road trip of the season with a 0-0 exhibition draw against the Oregon State University Beavers Saturday afternoon at Lorenz Field in Corvallis, Oregon. TWU finishes the trip with a 1-1-1 record.
"It was a pretty good contest and we played with lots of heart and fight. We knew that they would possess for good stretches through the game, but we defended well and were able to generate a couple of chances," said TWU head coach Graham Roxburgh. "I'm quite pleased our character our work rate and determination and willingness to stay true to the task. Encouraged that we had a good result against a quality Div. I team."
The Beavers outshot the Spartans 14-5 (3-0 on goal), and had a 7-2 advantage in corner kicks, but the Spartans fourth year keeper Ally Williamson (Langley, B.C.) made three saves to keep TWU even with OSU. "Ally was very tidy in goal and did a good job on shots and crosses into the box, and our back line did a good job of denying balls into the box and getting bodies around players trying to shoot," commented Roxburgh.
Each team had a goal disallowed in the second half. An offside negated an apparent Trinity Western tally in the 55th minute, and a foul during a goalmouth scramble erased an apparent OSU goal in the 65th minute.
Trinity Western almost broke the deadlock in the 85th minutes when a free kick from Alessandra Oliverio from just outside the 18-yard box evaded OSU keeper Melanie Trumbull. However, the ball bounced off the crossbar and was cleared away before the Spartans could get to the loose ball.
Fourth year forward Alessandra Oliverio (Calgary) had two shots, while second year defender Kathleen Chin (Calgary) and rookie forward Brooklyn Tidder (White Rock, B.C.) each had one shot for the Spartans.
Sophomore midfielder Natalie Higgins, junior midfielder Sabrina Santarossa, sophomore forward Emma Jones and freshman defender Allison Pantuso had two shots each for the Beavers.
Santarossa had the best scoring chance for the Beavers in the first half but her open shot from 10 yards out in the 26th minute went directly at TWU keeper Ally Williamson, who made the save. OSU outshot the Spartans 5-1 in the opening 45 minutes.
The Spartans open up Canada West play on Friday and Saturday September 11-12 when they will host the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia at Rogers Field. Both matches will be broadcasted live on Canadawest.TV.
The Beavers open the regular season at Portland on Friday. Their home opener is set for 2:30 p.m. Aug. 28 against Fresno State in a match to be televised by Pac-12 Networks.
Match notes: TWU finished with 13 fouls, while OSU had 28…the Spartans had one yellow, while the Beavers were given three yellow cards…
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