Friday night at Masich Place Stadium the UNBC Timberwolves Women kicked off their 2025 Canada West season with a 5-0 loss to the visiting TRU WolfPack. Esi Lufo struck twice and added an assist while goalkeeper Floor Ursem made five saves to secure the clean sheet. At the other side Johanna Rathke made nine saves in her UNBC debut in goal, and Kate Rattee and Maresha Manulak each finished the night with two shots on target. Rattee came especially close to scoring on numerous occasions in the first half.

The energy at Masich was palbable as the local crowd was eager to return to the grandstands to cheer on their Timberwolves!

Unfortunately for the hosts, the WolfPack silenced the crowd early on when Finnish first-year midfielder Sara Kuusimäki won the ball free in the box off a slick crossing pass from Makenna Ford. One touch later Kuusimäki had her first ever Canada West goal.

As the 20-minute mark passed, the WolfPack continued to apply pressure, but first-year goalkeeper Rathke dazzled. She was especially dominant in the 22^nd and 23^rd minutes where she made a pair of point-blank stops – the first of which came off an in-close effort from Esi Lufo.

The Timberwolves had some pushback of their own in the 30^th minute when fourth-year striker Kate Rattee blasted a shot off the crossbar from just inside the 18-yard box. Rattee had two more good looks in both the 39^th and 45^th minutes, but could not solve TRU keeper Floor Ursem.

The offensive floodgates opened in the second half for the visitors as Lufo struck twice in a 12-minute span (53rd and 65^th minutes) to push TRU's lead to 3-0.

The fourth WolfPack goal was a bad break as Nat Seiz struck from distance in the 74^th minute. After some back-and-forth with the officials it was deemed a good goal.

Laila Rafou rounded out the scoring for TRU with a goal during stoppage time that came off a solid strike from the left corner of the 18.

The final score showed 5-0 for TRU and a 21-9 edge in shots. The clean sheet went to Ursem who finished with five saves. At the other end, Rathke finished with nine saves for UNBC and earned Mr. Mike's Player of the Game honours for her efforts.

Despite the loss it as a memorable evening for five Timberwolves as Rathke, Maddy Heal, Laney Stewart, Boroka peter and RJ Barfoot all took to the field for their first minutes of Canada West play. Kate Rattee and Maresha Manulak also each finished the match with a pair of shots on target.

The TWolves won't have to wait long for another shot at the WolfPack as the two rivals will square off once again on Sunday at 12:00 pm from Masich Place Stadium.