The Warrior women’s soccer team was unable to break their losing streak this weekend as they faced off against the York Lions at CIF Sept. 19. The match ended 0–1, after a tense game which was largely played defensively on both sides.
The first half of the match was in the Warrior’s favour, with both the offence and defence giving the Lions a hard time. Both teams’ defence and goalies were in excellent form, and Waterloo’s Lesia Bandura in particular succeeded in making five saves throughout the match.
The Warriors played particularly offensive during the first half, and nearly scored by taking advantage of a string of off-side and obstruction calls on the Lions, which took them straight to the net. Unfortunately all of their shots were rebuffed by York’s own goalie, Courtney Davis. By half-time, the score was still 0–0.
“I definitely think that in the first half of the game, we actually had about 80 or 90 per cent of the possession,” said John O’Brien, head coach of the team.
The tension amped up in the second half, when the Lions now took a more offensive approach while the Warriors kept pushing back.
In the 67th minute, the Lions’ Nour Ghoneim made a run towards the net that would prove to be the Warriors’ undoing. Bandura attempted to reach the ball before Ghoneim could take her shot, but she fell short and Ghoneim scored, making the score 0–1. The goal became somewhat controversial, as both fans in the audience and O’Brien himself questioned whether Ghoneim had been off-side, though in the end the goal was accepted.
For their part, the Warriors also had some opportunities to score, particularly during a tense 20-yard free kick, but they couldn’t even the score before the game’s end. Further complicating game were two yellow cards given to team captain Kiersten Colbran, who had to leave the game in the 90th minute and sit out the next game.
Despite the latest losses, the Warriors plan to stay positive, according to O’Brien: “It’s tough to try and keep positive morale when you’re losing games by one goal, but on the other side, losing by only one goal must mean we’re doing something right.”
Two days later, Sept. 21, the Warriors travelled to Windsor to face off against the Lancers, though they lost the match 1–2. They lost their next home game to Guelph 3–4. Their next match will be in London on Sept. 27 against the Western Mustangs.
