VANCOUVER – The Queen's Gaels downed the Calgary Dinos 1-0 following a shootout in the second consolation semifinal of the CIS women's soccer championship at Thunderbird Stadium, Friday afternoon.
It was the second straight game decided in a shootout for the Gaels, after a heartbreaking loss to Sherbrooke in Thursday's quarter-final round. This time, the OUA champions emerged victorious, earning a 4-2 decision in the kicks session, and they will now square off with the Cape Breton Capers for fifth place on Saturday.
Laura Callender, Kyra Steer, Jessie de Boer and Tara Bertram all scored for the Gaels in the shootout, and a miss from Calgary's Dominica Wronski, coupled with a terrific, diving stop from Queen's goalkeeper Madison Tyrell on Dinos forward Jordan Smith were enough to earn the win. Mollee Ramsay and Remi Guindon both scored on their attempts for the Dinos.
The game went straight to kicks after a scoreless 90 minutes. There was no extra time.
Following a disheartening 2-1 shootout loss to the Sherbrooke Vert et Or in a rain-soaked quarterfinal matchup yesterday, Gaels head coach Dave McDowell was encouraged by the resiliency shown by his squad.
"I thought we bounced back nicely today," said McDowell. "I mean, it was easy to be disappointed after last night and the miserable conditions so I thought we came out and played quite well today. Calgary is a fantastic team and so it would have been nice to create some goals from the run of play but penalties are what they are."
The first prime chance of the afternoon came in the 20th minute, as Queen's second-year midfielder Matija Skoko came racing down the right flank and let go of a rising shot from close range. Calgary netminder Sam Chang-Foidl showed off her athleticism, making a terrific reactionary stop and tipping the attempt just over the bar.
Calgary nearly got on the board in the 33rd minute, but a dangerous looking cross from third-year midfielder Maddie Lee sailed harmlessly over the Queen's 18-yard box, as no Dino could make contact.
The Gaels pressed got another terrific chance to break the deadlock in the 74th minute, as Brittany Almeida got a clean look from 15 yards out. The fourth-year midfielder let go of a quick shot, but Chang-Foidl was again up to the task, diving to her left and snaring the ball before it could cross the goal line.
The Dinos earned a couple of chances as regulation was set to expire, but Smith couldn't beat Tyrell with a great look from 15 yards out, though her quick shot forced the Queen's netminder to make a terrific diving save.
Shortly after, Ramsay nearly notched the winner for Calgary, as the fourth-year midfielder elevated and did well to get her head on a great corner from Kira Lee and just missed over the crossbar. The whistle to signal the end of regulation sounded just seconds later.
For Calgary coach Troye Flannery, the loss didn't mark the end of the road for his Dinos, but the beginning.
"By no stretch of the imagination are we content," said Flannery. "We'll build on this. We get everyone back with the exception of Lauren Vernon. We've got a great recruiting class coming in. We're excited. We got a taste of it and I think we've garnered some respect for the program. We played two historically very, very strong programs in UBC and Queen's and we're right there."
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SCORING SUMMARY:
QNS 0-0: 1 (4-2 kicks)
CGY: 0-0: 0
First Half
(no scoring)
Second Half
(no scoring)
Kicks
QNS Laura Callender, goal
CGY Mollee Ramsay, goal
QNS Kyra Steer, goal
CGY Dominca Wronski, missed
QNS Jessie de Boer, goal
CGY Remi Guindon, goal
QNS Tara Bertam, goal
CGY Jordan Smith, saved (Madison Tyrell)
Goalkeepers:
QNS: Madison Tyrell (W, 0 GA, 5 saves, 90:00, 1-1)
CGY: Sam Chang-Foidl (L, 0 GA, 8 saves, 90:00, 0-2)
Team Stats
Shots: QNS 13, CGY 15
Shots on net: QNS 8, CGY 5
Corners: QNS 1, CGY 6
Offsides: QNS 2, CGY 0
Fouls: QNS 3, CGY 9
Yellow cards: None
Red cards: None
Players of the game:
QNS: Alicia Levy
CGY: Laura Vernon
