The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's soccer team thrashed the Cape Breton Capers 3-0 in U SPORTS quarter-final action on Thursday, November 7 in Victoria.
With the win, the Blues advance to their first national semifinal in program history.
HOW IT HAPPENED: A quick counter attack down the left flank had fifth-year veteran Jenny Wolever streak past the Capers defence and push a low cross to Erin Kelly, who calmly placed the ball in the back of the net to take the lead in the 30
th minute. The speed of Wolever continued to cause fits for the Capers back line, switching from one side of the field to the other and creating several quality chances for her teammates.
"Jenny was incredible. Every time she received a pass out wide, their defenders started trembling," said Varsity Blues head coach Angelo Cavalluzzo. "She was so dangerous on the dribble with the time and space to make plays. I'm so proud of her to have a game like that in her final year."
Both teams continued to apply offensive pressure in the second half, as third-year midfielder Miranda Badovinac got her head on a cross that hit the keeper in the chest in the 54
th minute and Rowe had a couple of promising runs but shot high and wide. Badovinac again got her head on a cross in the 63
rd minute only to see it go wide.
Cape Breton continued to push for the equalizer, as Amy Lynch took a shot from 30 yards out that just grazed the crossbar.
The insurance goal for Toronto came in the 80
th minute, when Wolever took a well-struck goal that went over the hands of the keeper. The third Toronto goal was scored in the 87
th minute by Badovinac, who finally got her header off a corner kick.
"Our group as a whole is stronger than the sum of its parts," said Cavalluzzo. "We go into every match thinking if we play the way we want, we are going to have a lot of success – that's exactly what happened tonight."
"When you are down by a goal, you got to open it up a bit to try and get that second one, " said Capers head coach Stephen Timmons. "Full credit to Toronto they played that system very well and they got that second goal and that made the game for them. Our girls battled hard and I am very proud of them."
Fourth-year goalkeeper Levanta Staggolis made four saves in the clean sheet victory.
UP NEXT: The Varsity Blues advance to the semifinals on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. ET / 3:00 p.m. PT against the winner of Thursday's fourth quarter-final between the UVic Vikes and Calgary Dinos. The Capers will play the loser of that game on Friday in the consolation semifinal at 7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT.
Nike Top Performers
TOR: Jenny Wolever
CBU: Ciera Disipio
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:
2019 U SPORTS Women's Soccer Championship
University of Victoria
(All Times Local)
Thursday, November 7
10:30am Acadia 2, York 1 Quarter-Final #1
1:00pm UBC 1, Montreal 0 Quarter-Final #2
4:00pm Toronto 3, Cape Breton 0 Quarter-Final #3
6:30pm Calgary 1, Victoria 0 Quarter-Final #4
Friday, November 8
1:30pm Consolation Semifinal #1 (York vs Montreal)
4:00pm Consolation Semifinal #2 (Cape Breton vs Victoria)
Saturday, November 9
12:30pm Semifinal #1 (Acadia vs UBC)
3:00pm Semifinal #2 (Toronto vs Calgary)
Sunday, November 10
10:00am Consolation Final (Winner of CSF #1 vs Winner of CSF #2)
12:30pm Bronze-Medal Match (Loser of SF #1 vs Loser of SF #2)
3:00pm Gold-Medal Match (Winner of SF #1 vs Winner of SF#2)
For more information, scores and highlights on your favourite U of T athletes and teams, please visit www.varsityblues.ca. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for the latest and greatest in Varsity Blues intercollegiate athletics.
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