This past reading week, the UTM women’s varsity soccer team played their third last game of the season against Cambrian Golden Shield in Sudbury, Ontario. Despite the shining sun, the air was cool and fans were forced to cover themselves in jackets and blankets.
The women only had 14 players with five unable to attend. In UTM’s previous game against the Sheridan Bruins, team co-captain Danica Post got into a heated altercation with a Sheridan player—both players received red cards, leaving Post unable to play against Cambrian.
Since the game was on a Tuesday and during reading week, four of the girls were unable to attend with another player suffering from injuries.
In the first half, the UTM women were slow and looked very drained from their travels. They struggled to get through the Cambrian defense line and had very few chances to score. The women were quiet on the field and not opening for one another, which lead Cambrian to lead the game 2-0 within the first half. Cambrian player, Tiffany Johnson, posed a major threat for the UTM defense and is easily Golden Shield’s strongest player.
At halftime, the ladies discussed what needed to be done for the second half. Head coach, Damian Yearwood, did well to keep the ladies positive while also explaining what he felt needed to be changed in order to have a better and more successful second half.
The second half came and the ladies came out stronger than before. Cambrian still managed to scrape a goal in within the first five minutes of play, but the women looked calmer and more composed. UTM forward, Sirsly Abakah-Etrue, got injured about 10 minutes into the half due to a cleated kick to the knee by a Cambrian defender, leaving UTM down to only two substitute players. Abakah-Etrue is now suffering from possible medial collateral ligament and meniscus injuries. In the 66th minute of play, Cambrian scored their fourth goal of the game from an unbelievable play by Johnson. Johnson had the ball at her feet and used her speed to get around four UTM players to score a goal for Cambrian. The game ended 4-0 for the Cambrian Golden Shield.
The last time UTM had played Cambrian was roughly two weeks prior on September 30th where they lost 9-2. Although the result was not what the women would have hoped for, it is still a clear improvement from the previous time they played each other. The women have two games left in the season and are looking to end on a positive note.
