News 57

'Pack opens nationals with golden-goal win'

By TRACY WATSON
Daily News Sports Reporter
November 9 2006

The TRU WolfPack took the first step Wednesday toward winning the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association national women's soccer championship.

Katie Clark's golden goal lifted the fifth-seeded WolfPack to a 1-0 overtime victory over the second-seeded F-X Garneau Elans in both teams' round-robin opener at nationals, at Langara College in Vancouver.

Clark scored the game-winner on a header off a corner kick, about 10 minutes into the first golden-goal overtime. The third-year NorKam graduate has been battling a nagging knee injury, and only entered the game partway through the second half.

"It was an unexpected goal, but a welcome goal," said TRU head coach Eric Schweizer. "It was a very exciting game. We're one step closer. It's a big step, but it's only one step of the three.

"So we'll get refocused (today) and hopefully look after NAIT."

Today, the WolfPack will play the third-seeded NAIT Ooks in its final round-robin game. A victory will give TRU an automatic berth into Saturday's gold-medal game. A loss and TRU will play for bronze.

The WolfPack hopes to have starting goalkeeper Shannon Kelly back between the pipes for today's contest.

Schweizer said the third-year Sa-Hali Sabres product was felled by a severe headache Tuesday night, and she was at hospital getting checked out during Wednesday morning's game.

wsockclark

KATIE CLARK scores the lone goal of the game to help TRU win their first match at soccer Nationals Wednesday.

Her absence meant rookie backup Shannon Meyer was forced into net. And she was tested early - within the first minute, she was forced to turn away a Garneau breakaway.

TRU also had an early break-away chance, but Stacy Bekkering was stopped by Elans keeper Anne-Catherine Huot.

Schweizer said it took the nervous WolfPack a good 20 minutes to settle in. F-X Garneau controlled the play during that time but couldn't score.

Kelsi Butner was TRU's player of the game, while Marie-Josee Marcotte earned that honour for F-X Garneau.

The victory was especially gratifying, Schweizer said, because the WolfPack - or its predecessor, the UCC Sun Demons - has lost in three previous meetings with F-X Garneau in the last four years.

Twice, the Sun Demons lost in the national final, 2-1 in overtime and 3-0. Last season, Garneau beat the WolfPack 2-0 when the teams met in the round-robin.

Meanwhile, the top-seeded Langara Falcons took the first step toward defending their national women's crown by trouncing the sixth-seeded Nova Scotia Agricultural College Rams 9-0 in their round-robin opener.

Player of the game Diana Cochrane led the Falcons with three goals.

Today, NSAC and the No. 4 Durham Lords square off. In men's nationals action on Wednesday, All-Canadian Corey Birza scored twice to lead the top-seeded Capilano Blues to a 4-2 victory over the No. 6 Mt. St. Vincent Rams.

In the other pool, Will Beague scored twice as the No. 2 Algonquin College Thunder blanked No. 5 Langara 4-0.