In the feature match of the girls edition of the 2012 Whitecaps FC College Showcase, Vancouver Whitecaps FC U-18 Girls Elite defeated the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) 6-3 at Surrey's Newton Athletic Park on Saturday.
The ‘Caps got off to a brilliant start as Elissa Neffsprung Jasmine Dhandaon a breakaway only 30 seconds into the match. Dhanda then slotted the ball into the back of the net to give her side an early 1-0 lead. That advantage doubled on 17 minutes with Wyatt again playing the role of playmaker, this time feeding Emma Fletcher, who made no mistake to make it 2-0 for the ‘Caps.
UFV would not go down easily and got back into the match on 23 minutes. Zoe Makrigiannisdid well to make a diving save on a header attempt, but the visitors were there to put in the rebound and cut the deficit to 2-1.
The Blue and White restored their two goal cushion on 40 minutes as Elise Wyatt crossed the ball to Dhanda for a one-timer, giving her two goals on the day and the ‘Caps a 3-1 lead. But UFV again would come back, as they managed to poke in a cross two minutes later to make the score 3-2 for Whitecaps FC at the half.
The second half saw Symons’s squad come out firing. Wyatt got things started with a beautiful chip over the goalkeeper on 51 minutes, and then an easy finish after a pass from Navneet Samrafollowing a beautiful run down the right hand side, making the score 5-2. The ‘Caps would put one more in, with Samra crossing in to Jasmine Manderfor a lovely header goal before UFV eventually pulled one back to round out the scoring.
"We found ways to ways to attack an organized UFV team today," said Jesse Symons, Whitecaps FC women's and Girls Elite head coach. "We played at a good speed and did well to keep possession from sideline to sideline and stretch their defence."
The Whitecaps FC U-18 Girls Elite squad return to action on Sunday with a match versus a Whitecaps FC alumni squad at 11 a.m. PT, followed by an encounter against the visiting Fort Collins SC at 5 p.m. PT.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Zoe Makrigiannis (Kayla Klim 45’); Lucielle Kozlov (Megan Pasternak 34’) (Madison Guy 73’), Samantha Ricker (Nicole Turney 45’), Tamara Roughead, Aman Shergill; Elissa Neff (Allie Wiebe 49’) (Lindsey Pulice 73’), Jasmine Mander, Samantha Dion; Kajal Parmar (Elise Wyatt 37’), Emma Fletcher (Navneet Samra 37’), Jasmine Dhanda
