CALGARY – The University of Calgary women's soccer squad kept its playoff hopes alive with a 2-1 victory over the Lethbridge Pronghorns on a beautiful fall afternoon in Calgary Sunday, completing a sweep of the weekend home-and-home series.

Following Saturday's 5-1 Dinos triumph in Lethbridge, the home side needed a pair of late goals to come from behind and get the win, with Joanna Ng notching the game winner in the 84th minute.

“We said we needed to win both games this weekend, and we were able to do it,” said Dinos coach Robin Slot, whose team moves to 2-4-2 on the season. “Today was not how we wanted to go about it, but they battled really hard in the second half and got two great goals.

“I told the team before the game that we had to win, a tie is no good. And we did it, so I'm very happy.”

It was the Pronghorns who got on the scoreboard first, taking a 1-0 lead in the first five minutes of play. Midfielder Janelle Groten converted one of Lethbridge's seven first-half corner kicks in the fifth minute, giving the 'Horns their first lead of the series.

“They scored an early goal, which gave them some confidence,” said Slot. “If we had jumped on them earlier it might have been a different game, but we made it hard on ourselves. In the second half we played hard and took some risks and got a couple of goals.”

After their solid offensive play went unrewarded in the first half, the Dinos sent 14 shots toward Lethbridge 'keeper Megan Lumley in the second half, forcing her to make several key stops. Morena Ianniello finally tied it up for Calgary in the 63rd minute with her second goal of the season, taking a nice pass from Tessa Miller and beating Lumley.

Calgary continued to press through the late stages of the game and again it was Miller that acted as offensive catalyst for the Dinos. She found Joanna Ng streaking down the right side and Ng put it past Lumley to seal the victory for Calgary.

Lumley made seven saves in a losing cause for Lethbridge, while the tandem of Kristen Barton and Courtney Heffernan split the duties in goal for the Dinos. Barton started the game and allowed the goal, while Heffernan was credited with the victory.

Both Calgary and Lethbridge play at home next weekend, hosting a pair of West Coast teams. Trinity Western will visit Calgary Saturday while Fraser Valley plays at Lethbridge, while the Spartans will make the trip south to face the 'Horns on Sunday while the Cascades take on the Dinos in Calgary.

-UC-