Vancouver Island University Mariners women’s squad played shutout soccer last week, dispatching Total Soccer Systems and Warner Pacific 1-0 and 4-0, respectively in pre-season action.
The M’s took on a skillful TSS team in Richmond Aug. 30, creating a number of scoring chances.
Rebecca Williams, on a pass from Jillian Kelly, scored the only goal of the match in the 30th minute. Williams, Mariah Robinson and Jessica Burma had chances to increase the lead before the half but were denied.
VIU dominated the match, making it tough for the opposition to get out of its own end, though M’s goalie Shelby Walker made two outstanding saves to preserve the win.
Anup Kang, VIU coach thought his team looked a little tired, coming off six hard training sessions in three days.
“We gave up a couple of clear chances that we have not given up all pre-season,” he said in a press release. “We know we will create chances on the offensive side, so our focus this pre-season has been on the defensive side. ”
Rachel Jones opened the scoring in the fourth minute of play Sunday against Warner.
Sharin Kang made it 2-0 for VIU in the 11th minute, when she fired a shot into the bottom right corner off a Caity Genereaux corner kick, and the M’s went up 3-0 before the half as Genereaux beat two defenders on the right side and placed a shot into the corner of the net.
The Mariners continued to press the play and had numerous opportunities before Jones got her second of the match in the 80th minute
VIU ended its pre-season with six wins and one loss and starts the Pacific Western Athletic Association regular season this weekend (Sept. 8-9) with away games against Langara College and Quest University.