Cape Breton carries dominant first half to 4-2 win over Panthers
Four first-half goals were more than enough for the Cape Breton Capers, who took down the UPEI Panthers 4-2 Sunday afternoon.
By Thomas Becker
Four first-half goals were more than enough for the Cape Breton Capers, who took down the UPEI Panthers 4-2 Sunday afternoon.
Alliyah Rowe (Kitchener, ON) led the way with two goals and assisted on another, while Senate Letsie (Maseru, Lesotho) and Ally Wilton (Bedford, NS) scored the other two.
"It feels pretty good to get win," said Rowe, who was named the Subway Player of the Game. "I thought we could've finished a little more but all in all, we did good as a team and we played well."
The Capers (8-1-0) got off to strong start as they scored two goals in the first five and a half minutes. The first one came off a corner kick that bounced around the box to Letise who tapped in.
A little over a minute later, Rowe went up the side and stopped on a dime before passing the ball to a wide open Wilton, who placed a shot in the bottom right corner to make it 2-0.
Rowe showed off her scoring touch in the 35th minute when she connected on a beautiful header that was set up by a Grace Hannaford (Enfield, NS) cross.
Rowe found the back of the net again a minute later when she redirected a cross from Paige Allaby (Rothesay, NB) to make it 4-0.
"I saw the defence sitting back, so as long as I was going in, I knew I could get up and ahead of them on that header, and the same for the second goal," Rowe said.
The Panthers (1-5-2) looked like a much stronger team in the second half and were rewarded for their effort just four minutes into the frame. Lydia Hamill (Albany, PE) sent a free kick to the box where Heather Williams (Cambridge, ON) saw it bounce and volleyed by backup keeper Chloe Parsons (Balls Creek, NS) to trim the deficit to 4-1.
Sarah Eden (Ottawa, ON) added another one late when she sailed a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box that beat Parsons. That made it 4-2, but with four minutes left to play, UPEI simply didn't have enough time to mount a comeback.
The Panthers travel to St. John's next Friday where they'll take on the Memorial Sea-Hawks. The Capers return home for their final three games, beginning Saturday against the Dalhousie Tigers.
Photo Credit: Mike Needham
