Pilots Avenge Loss, Shutout Rouges At Home

(OTTERBURNE) – Second half goals from Madeline Marzin (Burnaby, BC), Sara-Ashlee Chaves (Pitt Meadows, BC) and Paige Heide (Steinbach, MB) powered the Pilots to a 3-0 home win over St-Boniface on Sunday afternoon in MCAC women’s soccer action.

As though the last meeting was still fresh in the minds of the Pilots, a 3-2 scoreline that favoured today’s visitors, Providence charged the Rouges goal creating chance after chance in the opening half, only to come up empty.

Rookie goalkeeper, Lindsey Svmon was the difference in the contest for USB, coming up big for her team. In the 10^th minute, Heide headed down and in at the Rouges goal, receiving a lobbed pass from Ava Temple (Yarrow, BC), only to see Svmon react quickly and palm clear.

Later in the frame, she would stop Serena Negrich (Burnaby, BC) twice; from point-blank and once again before the halftime whistle when the Pilots’ scoring ace scampered through with a clear path to the USB goal.

Tactically, the Rouges sat back looking to catch the home team on the break and nearly did on several occasions, but through 45 minutes, nothing came for either team by way of goals.

Marzin broke the deadlock 17 minutes after the restart. As the Pilots peppered the USB goal, the ball eventually fell to the rookie who rocketed a right-footer into the roof of the net, behind Svmon, to put Providence ahead.

In the 73^rd minute, another rookie, Chaves, opened her MCAC scoring account and gave the Pilots some insurance. The BC-native received a pass from Temple inside the 18-yard box and skipped her shot past an outstretched Svmon.

Heide’s converted spot-kick capped the win for the hosts in the 86^th minute on a penalty that she also won. After chasing down a well-weighted pass from Negrich, the fourth-year danced past a USB defender and forced a foul inside the area. The goal took Heide to 8 MCAC goals on the season.

With the win, Providence stays joint-top of the MCAC table, even with the Brandon Bobcats who themselves counted a double-digit win on Sunday afternoon over ACC.