The University of Regina's women's soccer team battled to a hard-fought 1-1 draw with the Victoria Vikes on Saturday evening at Centennial Stadium in Victoria.
The Cougars got on the board first just 13 minutes into the game. What looked like a harmless play as a Vikes defender passed the ball back to keeper Puck Louwes turned into anything but, as
Kirsten Finley got to it first and tucked it in behind Louwes for her first goal of the season.
That goal stood as the only strike of the contest until just past the midway mark of the second half, when Victoria substitute Natalie Cavallin got her head on a Rachel Baird cross just seconds after entering the game.
Regina keeper
Savannah Williams made seven saves, including six in the second half alone to help preserve the draw for the Cougars.
"The squad demonstrated great determination and fight today," Cougars head coach
Bob Maltman said. "We capitalized on our chance to gain a well-deserved goal in the first half through great persistence by
Kirsten Finley, and we dug deep in the second half to earn a valuable point. Even better is the mentality shown by our squad in accepting the value of the point, but being disappointed not to gain all three."
The draw moves the Cougars' record to 1-3-2 on the season as they remain in fifth place in the Prairie Division standings. Next up for the U of R is a pair of home games against divisional rivals, as the Cougars will host Manitoba next Saturday and Winnipeg on Sunday. Both of those matches will kick off at noon at the U of R Field.
