A dominant 2nd half carried the women Panthers to a 4-0 victory over St. Mary's on Sunday, giving UPEI 2nd place and a bye in the opening round of this weeks' AUS playoffs.
Kalie Symington opened the scoring in the 15th minute off a scramble in front of the SMU net following a corner. It was one of nine corners the teams combined for in the half.
SMU best chance in the half came of a cross in the 37th minute which nailed the post on a clearing header by a Panther defender.
Symington's midfield partner,Andrea Archibald was denied a goal in the 45th minute on a fine save by the SMU keeper, who managed to get a hand on the shot and direct it wide of goal.
UPEI started quickly in the 2nd half with Archibald being denied by the SMU keeper in the opening minute.Tessa Roche followed up shortly thereafter drilling a left footed 20 yarder past the SMU keeper in the 48th minute for a 2-0 lead.
The Panthers carried much of play but could not extend the lead, which appeared to be a concern when SMU was awarded a penalty shot in the 70th minute. Adding to a complete team effort on the day, Keeper Channelle Roy stoned Heidi Pentz on the shot and covered the angle on the rebound forcing Pentz to miss wide to the lower left- hand corner.
UPEI put the final nails in SMU's coffin shortly thereafter. Roche, with her 2nd of the game, league leading 12th of the season and Panther record 37th goal hammered the ball into the net in the 73rd minute. Carolyn McKenna completed the scoring in the 77th minute, scoring on a rebound after the keeper made a difficult save on an Ashley Caulier blast.
UPEI outshot the Huskies 16-3, outchanced them 16-7 and held a 6-4 advantage on corners.
Coach Mike Redmond was pleased with the effort of his team on the weekend. " I thought we played well in both games. We're happy to have the bye and look forward to a good week of preparation."
Panther captain Mandy McKenna missed her 5th consectutive game due to a nagging injury but is hopeful for the playoffs.
Department of Athletics