The University of Saskatchewan Women’s Soccer team began their 2024 season at home with an epic battle against the visiting MacEwan Griffins, and although the Huskies outshot MacEwan and dominated for nearly 90-minutes, the game resulted in a 2-2 tie thanks to a late game-tying goal from Jade Houmphanh to give Saskatchewan a much earned tie.
Full Recap BELOW
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Saskatchewan started off hot with the first good scoring chance coming five minutes in with some miscommunication with MacEwan goalkeeper Elizabeth Knight fumbling an easy save giving Alyssa D’Agonne a wide open net to shoot at but Knight dove across to make a highlight reel save. MacEwan had a little push back with a Header Shot from Amelia Russo reaching the goal but Huskies goalkeeper Kalin Roberts was in position to make the easy save. D’Agonne would get another chance at the 10-minute mark finding a loose ball only to be blocked by two Griffins defenders.
Late in the first half, Saskatchewan would come close again as a long centering pass would find Marie Kilcher at the side of the net, unfortunately putting it wide right of the net. Although Saskatchewan dominated the opening half, it would be Alyx Henderson jumping on a rebound off a Grace Mwasalla shot to put one past Kalin Roberts to open the scoring for MacEwan at the 32-minute mark. Saskatchewan would respond seconds later as Cheyenne Lehmann scored a beauty off a corner kick for the team’s first goal of the season and tie the game 1-1. The chances kept coming for Saskatchewan as Nammi Nguyen put one on net for an easy save by Knight followed by a Cheyenne Lehmann shot that was stopped by Knight and the rebound by Caitlin Stove rang off the crossbar.
MacEwan had two shots in the first half, both on goal with Kalin Roberts making one save while the Huskies had 11 shots with six of them on goal and Elizabeth Knight staying busy making five saves going into the second half.
Saskatchewan picked up where they left off in the first half with Tia Lecox having a chance all alone in front and Elizabeth Knight getting just a piece of the ball to deflect it off the crossbar keeping the game tied. Saskatchewan thought they had the go ahead goal but was called off because of an offside. The Huskies continued to control the pace with chances after chances, with a near repeat of the first half with MacEwan breaking the tie at the 63-minute mark with Grace Mwasalla sending one past Kalin Roberts for a 2-1 MacEwan lead.
After the go ahead goal, Saskatchewan had chances but couldn’t direct anything on goal with MacEwan hanging onto their lead. Late in the game during extra time, Jade Houmphanh fired home the tying goal bringing Griffiths Stadium to its feet once again, moments before the final whistle.
A much earned tie for the Huskies as they get back to work tomorrow afternoon against the visiting Alberta Pandas as they’ll be looking to take one step further and grab their first win of the season.
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Head Coach Jerson Barandica-Hamilton:
GAME STATS – TEAM
Shots: MacEwan 6-20 Saskatchewan
Shots on Goal: MacEwan 5-9 Saskatchewan
Saves: MacEwan 7-3 Saskatchewan
Corners: MacEwan 1-3 Saskatchewan
Offsides MacEwan 1-3 Saskatchewan
Fouls: MacEwan 6-5 Saskatchewan
GAME STATS – PLAYER
Jade Houmphanh (4 Shots, 2 Shots on Goal, 1 Goal)
Cheyenne Lehmann (4 Shots, 3 Shots on Goal, 1 Goal)
Caitlin Stove (3 Shots, 1 Shot on Goal)
Alyssa D’Agnone (3 Shots, 1 Shot on Goal)
Nammi Nguyen (1 Shot, 1 Shot on Goal)
Kalin Roberts (5 Shots on Goal, 3 Saves)
NEXT GAME: vs. Alberta Pandas (0-0) on Sunday, September 8th at 2:00 p.m.
