Rain didn’t stop the women’s soccer team from shining as they came away from Wednesday afternoon’s match at Richardson Stadium with a 2-0 win over the Royal Military College Paladins.
Queen’s dominated the possession early on, firing three shots on the Paladins’ net in the first half and preventing RMC from recording a single on-target attempt. But their control of the game wasn’t reflected on the scoreboard until the second half.
Head coach Dave McDowell said the lack of success in the first half motivated the team.
“I think they were really frustrated at half-time,” he said. “It was just one of those days. … We didn’t score and continued to get chance after chance; you could see maybe the collars got a little bit tighter.” Queen’s striker Jen Hutchinson said the team lost their composure on the attack early on.
“I think we get excited when the ball gets in front of the net and then just can’t put it in the right spot,” she said.
The Gaels caught a break 18 minutes into the second half when Hutchinson fired a cross that RMC defender Jessica Hawn accidently diverted into her own net. Hutchinson was credited with the goal, though, and said she was happy to end up on the scoresheet.
“I felt pretty excited even though it wasn’t the nicest goal,” she said. “This was probably the best game I played yet with the Queen’s team.” After the goal, the Gaels slowed things down on offence, and better scoring chances resulted. The second goal came 13 minutes later when Cristina Senese powered the ball into the net off a rebound. Queen’s defence stayed strong to the end to preserve the lead, only allowing a single shot on goalkeeper Katie McKenna. With the win, McKenna recorded her fifth shutout of the season, putting her into a tie with Laurier’s Mal Woeller for the CIS lead. The victory moves Queen’s into a tie for second place with the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in the OUA East standings. Hutchinson said she’s confident the Gaels will be a force to be reckoned with in the remainder of the season.
“I think that we should win all of our remaining games and I would say probably finish top three,” she said. “I think we should definitely qualify for nationals if we keep playing the way we are, if we keep the ball on the ground and not panic with the ball at the post.”
The Gaels played their fourth game in seven days on Oct. 11 on the road against the sixth-place Ryerson Rams. See queensjournal.ca for updates. See Friday’s paper for the full story.
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