Sunday draw ‘almost like loss’ for women’s soccer team

Nobody scored on Sunday Oct.5, as the Kwantlen women’s soccer team played the Douglas Royals to a 0-0 draw on their home turf at the Tamanawis field in Surrey.

The Eagles may have been tired after a big win the day before against the Langara Falcons, during which Head Coach Vladimir Samozvanov said the team was more alive.

Still, Samozvanov said the result of the Sunday’s game was positive. The women had a few chances during both the first and second half and continued to try their best.

The teams battled back and forth on the sunny fall afternoon with plenty of action in the middle of the field as each side played tug-o-war for control. What ground was gained for either side did not seem to kept for long.

In the second half of the game, Kwantlen used more of the field. Near the end of the second half, shouts of encouragement mingled with groans of disappointment could be heard as Reem Knyfatty, a first-year forward took a shot that drew the Douglas keeper out of the net. Jennifer Starheim, a Douglas forward, then took the play back to the Kwantlen end with a powerful kick.

“There were more passing sequences in the second half,” said Natalie Therrien who is playing her first year of defense, but “collectively the work ethic wasn’t there.”

She said the team was getting way better and “beat the best” when they played the Falcons Saturday. The game Sunday felt like a lose because the teams in the league are neck-in-neck and, “If we don’t get the points from the easy teams than taking points from the hard teams doesn’t really matter,” Therrien said.

The Royals and the Eagles each earned one point for the tie. The teams played two regular games last season, with one tie and one 2-0 loss for the Eagles

Next weekend, the women play the Vancouver Island University Mariners in Nanaimo.