Mariners and Blues Win

With wins on Friday at the CCAA nationals women's soccer championship the VIU Mariners meet the Capilano Blues in the women's bronze medal game on Saturday.

Capilano Blues 1
Seneca Sting 0

The Capilano Blues will get to play for a medal as the host side in their own tournament after knocking off the Seneca Sting 1-0 Friday afternoon. It was an early goal by fifth-year defender Mya Fraser that made the difference. Capilano started strong, immediately pushing the ball into attacking position which earned them a corner kick less than five minutes in. Again, Michaela Salvino lofted a stellar delivery to the front of the Seneca goal where Fraser got above the crowd and headed it home for the only goal of the game. Salvino almost made it a two-goal lead midway through the first half on a free kick that clanged off the post. From there, the Blues would have to put in more than 70 minutes of spotless defending to bring it home and got a massive boost early in the second half from goalkeeper Amaya Salvino. After a tangle in the Blues 18-yard box and a Seneca player went to the turf, a penalty kick was awarded with Alexis Cordeiro selected to take it. Her shot to the right side was stopped on a diving, two-fisted denial by Salvino with Isabella Bolognese clearing the rebound. The Blues were able to push to the final whistle, using some fresh legs off the bench in the form of Ayesha Fraser and Kai Belbin. Capilano will play for a bronze medal Saturday at 12 p.m. against the winner of the VIU vs. Concordia-Edmonton game.

4imprint Players of the Game

Seneca – Christina Diaco
Capilano – Mya Fraser

VIU Mariners 4
Concordia-Edmonton Thunder 1

The VIU Mariners continued their romp through the backdoor side of the tournament bracket with a 4-1 win over the Concordia-Edmonton Thunder Friday afternoon. After dropping a 1-0 decision to Montmorency on Day 1, the Mariners have defeated their next two opponents by a combined 12-1 count, including Friday’s victory that included a pair from Tori Hauptman. VIU pressed the agenda from kickoff and opened the scoring with Hauptman’s first of the game in the 14th minute after some good setup work by Olivia Guild. Saki Meshida followed just eight minutes later, and Hauptman completed her brace just past the half-hour mark, putting VIU in command going to the second half. The Mariners possession and skill prevented CUE from mounting much of an attack and they added to their cushion when Emma Thornton made it 4-0 with about 15 minutes to go. CUE made a goalie switch at halftime, substituting Taytum Busch for Madison Kempster but brought Kempster on as an attacking player late in the match and it paid off as she broke VIU’s bid for a clean sheet when she scored with two minutes remaining. The Thunder got no closer than that. VIU’s win puts them into the bronze-medal game where they will face familiar PACWEST foe Capilano in a 12 p.m. kickoff on Saturday.

4imprint Players of the Game:

CUE – Emma Ward
VIU – Tori Hauptman