Sunday afternoon at Masich Place Stadium the UNBC Timberwolves dropped a 1-0 decision to the visiting Mount Royal Cougars. The lone goal of the match came in the 21
st minute from MRU's Tamara Djurisic. Neil Sedgwick's Timberwolves squad showed plenty of resolve, urgency and poise in response, but couldn't solve MRU goalkeeper Ella FIlek.
Confident ball movement was evident in the opening five minutes for UNBC who were hoping to take advantage of some weary Cougars who didn't arrive to Prince George until early Sunday morning from Calgary.
But the Mount Royal Cougars found their legs and got their first shot on target in the 10
th minute off the foot of Tamara Djurisic.
12 minutes later, Djurisic grabbed the game's first goal when she found a seam in the middle, took a pass from Siddaly Alcock, and snuck a low shot under the arm of Hinsche and in for her third of the campaign.
Neil Sedgwick's club was undeterred. Territorially, the TWolves more than held their own and in the 28
th minute,
Maresha Manulak did well to get a shot on target from outside the penalty area.
Claire Turner created some buzz from the crowd in the 36
th minute as she 'almost' connected on a bicycle kick from just outside the penalty area. Credit to the Cougars though who did just enough defensively to negate her scoring chance.
The Cougars came within a whisker of extending their lead to 2-0 during first-half stoppage time, but first-year midfield Gabrielle Linford's attempt from in close deflected off Hinsche and then off the left goalpost. Hinsche then repositioned herself in time to stop Alcock's rebound, and the score remained 1-0 when the halftime whistle sounded.
Shots at half were 7-1 favouring MRU.
After making two first-half substitutions, Sedgwick felt good about his team's pace and quality as he kept the same 11 on the field to start the second half.
Claire Turner did her part to try and spark the TWolves attack with a shot on target in ther 53rd minute, but FIlek made the save.
Celeste Kirkness then had a go in the 63
rd minute with a header chance that went wide to the right. Kirkness, who was playing in just her second game back from injury, showcased great speed, decision making and connectedness throughout Sunday's match and for her efforts was named Mr. Mike's Player of the Game.
Back came the Cougars as Dany Juarez and Analisa Galvez both peppered Hinsche with shots, but both times the reigning team MVP made the saves.
Hinsche would add three more saves to her end-game total down the stretch and would finish the match with 11 – marking the fourth time in eight appearances that she's stopped 10-or-more.
When the final whistle sounded, MRU was able to celebrate a 1-0 win on the strength of a 13-2 edge in shots and an 8-1 edge in corners. The win also helped bump the Cougars season record to 3-6-2 while the TWolves now sit at 1-9-0.
Up next for the TWolves – a Friday-Saturday home double-header showdown with the conference leading UBC Thunderbirds.
