The University of Regina's women's soccer team lost to the University of Saskatchewan Huskies 2-1 on Sunday afternoon.
Huskies forward Alyssa D'Agnone scored the game winner as they moved ahead of Regina in the East Division and now own sole possession of first place.
Kyra Vibert scored her third goal of the season for the Cougars. Regina was a victim of an own goal in the first half, resulting in the Huskies first goal of the game.
"I thought we started strong and the girls were ready to go," said Cougars interim co-head coach
Rob McCaffrey. "We had a good game plan laid out. The Huskies started strong too, you always know that they're going to respond after the Friday game. We got away from some our principles a little bit, and we regrouped at halftime. I thought we became a little direct today, and we started to rely on our athleticism and some of the things that worked on Friday. It's just about reframing in terms of what our goals are in the different phases of play and connecting again and building up as a group"
The Cougars started the game strong by scoring the opening goal at the five minute mark.
Grace Miller dribbled the ball deep into the Huskies box before centering it on a short pass to Vibert. Kyra delivered a strong strike into the back of the net. The Huskies brought the pressure for rest of the half, taking 17 shots and six corner kicks. In the middle of the opening half, Saskatchewan forward Taneil Gay had a shot ricochet off the cross bar. The rebound was misplayed by a Cougars defender and into their own net to tie the game.
Two minutes into the second half, D'Agnone scored her first goal of the season to put the Huskies ahead. They wouldn't relinquish the lead as they held on for the big win. The Cougars had some opportunities on free kicks in the second half but failed to convert on any of them.
Allyson Ford made seven saves between the pipes for the Cougars in the loss. Huskies goalkeeper Jadyn Steinhauer made four saves to secure the victory.
"I'm proud of the effort the girls put forward, unfortunate to give up the two goals today. But you know we will rebound, we will regroup and come to work next week for a huge matchup against Manitoba here at home. With Manitoba they are very talented upfront so we will have to make sure we are well organized and able to contain their front players."
The Cougars play at home again next Saturday against the Manitoba Bisons at noon on the U of R Field. The Huskies will head home to face the Winnipeg Wesmen on Friday night.
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