A late, first-half goal proved to be the winner as the Thunder women’s soccer team made a comeback victory over the Cambrian Golden Shield on a chilly Oct. 10 at the Algonquin facility.
Just before half-time, Becky Leese turned in a cross in front of goal to give Algonquin a 2-1 lead in the 41st minute. The Thunder would carry that lead into half-time and wouldn’t need any insurance as the game ended 2-1.
The win pushed the first-placed Thunder to a record of 9-0 with three games remaining in the season.
Leese’s goal pushed her season total to six to put her in a tie for fifth in OCAA scoring.
“I’m happy I scored,” said Leese. “It ended up being the winning goal so I’m really happy that I did.”
Thunder head coach, Dom Oliveri, said that the late first-half goal helped in calming down his team after a frustrating 40 minutes.
“It always gives you some momentum going into half-time,” said Oliveri. “It allows you to settle down a bit and address what’s going wrong.”
The Thunder was solid in the first 10 minutes, controlling the play inside Cambrian’s half. However, it all came undone after some poor defense, allowing Cambrian to take a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute.
It didn’t take long for the Thunder to get it right back as winger Darby Perry converted a low cross just two minutes later and evened the game up at one.
“We leaked a goal,” said Thunder captain Sylvie Avedissian. “It wasn’t a great goal on their half, but it’s still a goal. But it was okay, we fought back and got the goal back.”
The Thunder dominated the second-half, but couldn’t find a way through Cambrian keeper Megan Coutu, who made save after save to keep the Golden Shield in the game.
“She played a great game,” said Oliveri. “It also shows that we created chances. That’s what we ask our players to do and all credit to their goal-keeper, she made some fantastic saves.”
The Thunder will travel to Peterborough to play Fleming on Oct. 16.