WOLFVILLE, N.S. -
Tara Bartram (Vancouver) struck in the fifth minute as she crossed up a defender and curled in a strike from the top of the box to send the Gaels to the national U Sports semifinal on Friday night. Queen's will meet UBC on Friday night at 6:30pm with a trip to the national final on the line.
The Queen's Gaels showed up with a game plan and worked it pretty much to perfection in a 1-0 victory over the St. F.X. X-Women in the third of four quarter-final matches on day one of the CIS women's soccer championships Nov. 10 in Wolfville.
Fourth-year forward
Bartram, one of nine Gaels in either her fourth or fifth year of eligibility, scored the game's only goal 4:21 into the first half.
Playing with precision and very little wasted energy, fifth-ranked Queen's, 1-0 losers to the
UOIT Ridgebacks in the OUA conference final, put
AUS-champion St. F.X. back on their heels early, and ended up allowing the X-Women few offensive chances and just one shot on goal.
Queen's, meanwhile, had six shots on the St.F.X. goal, and barely missed adding to their scoring total a couple of times in the second half.
"We have a lot of good experience," Gaels Player of the Game Laura
Callender said afterward. "A lot of us were at the CIS championship last year as well."
Queen's lost its quarter-final match a year ago, and according to
Callender, came to
Wolfville this year determined to avoid a repeat of last year's disappointment.
Asked if the precision Queen's showed against St. F.X. was their usual game, the fifth-year midfielder acknowledged, "kind of." As a group, the Gaels "have been in a lot of playoff games. We try to be precise and efficient, not wasting any energy."
Callender said it was tough playing a team like St. F.X. "We play a lot of teams who are more direct," whereas the X-Women play a more deliberate style. However, "when we do get on
offence, it gives us a lot of momentum."
With the win, the Gaels move on to a semifinal meeting with UBC, who defeated Acadia 1-0 in their quarterfinal, Friday, Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m. St. F.X. will play the loser of the Acadia Friday at 2:30 p.m.
Callender acknowledged Queen's "got the start we wanted. To be playing for a medal now is great for us. We're in a great position."
As for the keys to the victory, she said, "taking control of the midfield and sticking to our game plan." The latter, she said, "is very important at this level, where there are no bad teams."
SCORING SUMMARY:
QUE 1-0: 1
STFX: 0-0: 0
First Half
1. QUE
Tara Bartram (1), 4:21
Second Half
None
Goalkeepers:
StFX: Nicole MacDonald (L 1 GA, 1 save, 90:00, 0-1)
QUE:
Madison Tyrell (W 0 GA, 1 save, 90:00, 1-0)
Team Stats
Shots: StFX 1, QUE 6
Shots on net: StFX 1, QUE 2
Corners:StFX 4, QUE 6
Offsides: StFX 0, QUE 0
Fouls: StFX 6, QUE 1
Yellow cards: Olivia Wilkie (StFX)
Red cards: None
Players of the game:
StFX: Alix Bruch
QUE:
Laura Callender
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE AND RESULTS (all times ATLANTIC TIME)
Wednesday, Nov. 9
19:00 All-Canadian Awards Banquet (Festival
Theatre, Acadia University)
Thursday, Nov. 10
12:00 Quarter-final 1: Laval (5) vs Saskatchewan (0)
14:30 Quarter-final 2:
UOIT (1) vs. Trinity Western (0) (ET)
17:00 Quarter-final 3:
StFX (0) vs. Queen's (1)
19:30 Quarter-final 4: UBC (1) vs. Acadia (0)
Friday, Nov. 11
12:00 Consolation 1: No.7 Saskatchewan vs. No.6 Trinity Western
(Watch Online)
14:30 Consolation 2: No.4 St. FX vs. No.8 Acadia
(Watch Online)
17:00 Semifinal 1: No.2 Laval vs. No.3
UOIT (Fibe TV1 Channel 1/401 or Watch Online)
19:30 Semifinal 2: No.5 Queen's vs. No.1 UBC
(Fibe TV1 Channel 1/401 or Watch Online)
Saturday, Nov. 12
12:00 5
th-place game
(Watch Online)
Sunday, Nov. 13
12:00 Bronze medal
(Fibe TV1 Channel 1/401 or Watch Online)
14:30 Championship final
(Fibe TV1 Channel 1/401 or Watch Online)
