Game recap by Kirk Jessome
(Halifax, NS) – At the historic Wanderers Ground, the Dalhousie Tigers hosted the Saint Mary's Huskies in the Halifax Derby on Thursday. The Tigers offense erupted in the match, leading them to a 5-0 victory.
The Tigers held possession in the attacking half for nearly all of the opening 10 minutes of the match, forcing the Huskies to play physically in order to get it out of their own end.
The attacking play forced an onslaught of corners and free kicks for the Tigers, and another great corner from Catherine Guevin-Nicoloff (Ottawa, ON) forced contact in the box, and a penalty for the Tigers.
Rachelle Lalande (Halifax, NS) stepped up to the dot for the Tigers and blasted her penalty high into the left corner to open the scoring.
The Tigers continued to hold the majority of the pressure in the first half, with some nice passing leading to a great shot from Kaitlyn Woodworth (Bridgewater, NS) from far outside the box. The shot took a wild bounce in front of Itai Kuwodza (Harare, Zimbabwe) and got by her, but hit the inside of the post and back into the hands of the keeper.
Just as stoppage time was starting, Guevin-Nicoloff sent another great corner in for the Tigers that took a few bounces in the box before Maya Venkataraman (Summerland, BC) met it with a great left foot to curl it into the far-side post to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead going into the half.
In the second half it was the Huskies who started with energy. Anelise Karakostas (Victoria, BC) was able to create space at the top of the box for an open step toward the goal. Karakostas took a hard swing at the goal, but Annabel Gravely (Toronto, ON) made a great charging save to hold onto her clean sheet.
The Tigers were able to open up their lead late in the half when Breagh Bates (Timberlea, NS) sent a fantastic chip pass ahead for Lara Casey (Toronto, ON) to beat the back line and have an open look at the goal for a 3-0 lead.
Casey was also able to collect another point by finding Brenna Kettlewell with a great cross in the box and Kettlewell finished it with a great volley to put the Tigers up 4-0.
Off of one final corner, the Tigers found their fifth goal off the foot of Riley Donovan (Toronto, ON) at the far post for a 5-0 final score for the Tigers victory.
Lara Casey earned herself the Subway Player of the Game title, picking up a goal and an assist in the win.
The Tigers will look to make it five in a row on Wednesday when they host Acadia, while the Huskies will be back on the pitch next Friday when they travel to take on the Axewomen.