The Peak

UBC continues to dominate B.C. battle

By Matt Lee, Associate Staff Contributor

The SFU women were looking to remain on the winning side of the tracks going into a couple of key dates with Concordia University and UBC, but failed to win any of those important games, including the annual Challenge Cup last Wednesday — a 2-1 defeat at Swangard Stadium that pushes the Clan’s losing streak to seven against the Thunderbirds.

After winning the first two of a three-game homestand, Shelley Howieson’s squad failed to complete the trifecta and were beaten 2-1 by Concordia University last Saturday. Sarah Boulton regained her dominant form against the Cavaliers, scoring her eighth goal of the season in the losing effort last week.

But perhaps the loss that stung the most was the Clan’s defeat at the hands of UBC last Wednesday. The T-Birds pulled out the 2-1 victory and have now claimed seven straight Challenge Cups over their regional rivals atop Burnaby Mountain.

UBC midfielder Anja Sigloch scored two goals in the 39th and 42nd minute to give the Thunderbirds the victory. Goalkeeper Cassie Newbrook couldn’t handle the Sigloch header off a cross pass from Jessica Briker in the 40th minute as UBC scored the ever-important first goal. Three minutes later, Sigloch weaved through the SFU defense to score her second.

“It was an eight minute stretch where they scored two goals, and other than that it was dead even,” said SFU head coach Shelley Howieson following the defeat against UBC. “This is a game where we need everyone to be healthy against such a quality side, and this is the first time this season where our youth showed, we weren’t disciplined at key moments, and it’s back to the drawing board this weekend.”

The two losses in a row has the Clan’s at 8-4 with three games remaining. The ladies also dropped a pair of games against Concordia and Trinity Western before regrouping to beat Carroll and Corban College.

It appears evident that while the No. 9-ranked Clan have all the makings of a team capable of competing for a national title, they are coming up just short in some of their games. And with three games remaining on their regular season schedule, Howieson must get her team playing on a more consistent level.

The Clan squared off against the College of Idaho on Sunday night before their upcoming road affair versus Western Washington on Saturday. Check out athletics.sfu.ca for the score and game recap.