London, ON — The Mustangs Women's Soccer team battled hard but fell 3-1 to Guelph on Friday afternoon.
Associate Coach Onkar Dhillion pointed to development within the group while keeping the focus on results. "Of course, we always want the results and we're here to compete to win," Dhillion said. "But we also aren't getting our results, looking for other gains, and that's what we're going to focus on going into a very dense part of our schedule and a very high end part of our opposition is what gains can we gather from that."
The Mustangs spent much of the first half under pressure and went to halftime trailing 1-0 after Katie Kimens scored for Guelph in the 28th minute off a Cassidy Anderson assist. Earlier, Astrid Hancocks kept the match scoreless with saves on Isabella Trepanier at 4:55 and Avery Rogerson at 25:31, while Western absorbed three Guelph corner kicks before the goal. The Mustangs' clearest recorded chance came after the goal, when Sophia Saville had a shot blocked at 33:13. Western then kept Guelph from adding on during a late stretch that included a corner kick and two shots by Olivia Rizakos, carrying the 1-0 deficit into halftime.
Western equalized early in the second half when Mara Sanauceanu scored at 50:24 off an assist from Anna Pozzi, making it 1-1. Pozzi put another Mustangs attempt wide right in the 57th minute, but Guelph moved back in front on an own goal at 58:29. Western absorbed pressure later in the half, with Guelph sending shots wide, earning a corner and hitting the crossbar before Ella Cahill scored at 77:49 with an assist from Katie Kimens. Lowyn Weber forced a save from Natalie Mouradian in the 70th minute, and Hancocks stopped Olivia Rizakos at 90:00, but the Mustangs finished the match with a 3-1 loss.
Dhillion also highlighted younger players gaining experience, saying, "It's all about adding bricks and you know, there's some gaps in our performance today, but we saw some of our young players show that they can play at this level and they can do some damage at this level."
Mustangs Key Stats
Mara Sanauceanu
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- one goal
- one shot on goal
Anna Pozzi
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- one assist
- one shot
Astrid Hancocks
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- three saves
NEXT GAME
The Mustangs travel to Hamilton on Sunday to face McMaster. Game time is set for 4 p.m.
