(Sydney, N.S.) Day one of the 2021 Subway AUS Women's Soccer Championships wrapped up with big wins for the fourth-seed StFX and third-seed Acadia, who'll move on to tomorrow's semifinals. In case you missed the action, here's how the quarterfinals went.
QF#1: Mount Allison Mounties (5th) vs. StFX X-Women (4th)
Led by a hattrick from first-team all-star Amanda Smith (Ottawa, ON), the StFX X-Women scored a convincing 4-0 victory over the Mount Allison Mounties in quarterfinal action at the 2021 Subway AUS Women’s Soccer Championships early on Thursday afternoon.
“We came out with the attitude that we really, really wanted it,” Smith said in a post-game interview.
In the first half, the X-Women pressured the Mounties defense early, leading to a couple of scoring chances, including one from Brynn Jurus (Ancaster, ON), but Mount Allison goalkeeper Sophie Austin (Kanata, ON) made a diving stop with her right hand.
STFX got on the scoreboard when Smith bested Austin with a low shot on a penalty kick.
“It was great to get one out of the way,” she said, referencing a goal she tallied on a penalty kick in their regular-season matchup.
Moments later—the Mounties garnered their best scoring chance of the match, when AUS first-team all-star Amanda Piltzmaker (Ottawa, ON) ripped a left-footed strike that X-Women keeper Christina Gentile (Laval, QC) soared to deflect off the crossbar.
The X-Women led 1-0 at halftime.
Early in the second half, Smith made a nifty turn at the top of the box before striking a left-footed shot behind Austin to make it 2-0.
Lauren Reid (Kanata, ON) gave the X-Women a 3-0 edge, when she deftly headed a cross behind Austin.
Smith completed the three-goal effort, with just more than 10 minutes remaining, on a cross from Sarah Lapensee (Ottawa, ON).
With the win, the X-Women earned a spot in a semi-final tilt with the top-seeded Memorial Sea-Hawks on Friday at 11:30 a.m. AST.
“We want to play a fast game – we will have to focus on playing together,” Smith said of the upcoming match-up.
QF#2: Dalhousie Tigers (6th) vs. Acadia Axewomen (3rd)
Junior forward Jayden Boudreau (Halifax, N.S.) scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal in the 105th minute for the Acadia Axewomen in a thrilling 1-0 overtime victory over the Dalhousie Tigers in quarterfinal action on Thursday evening at the 2021 Subway AUS women’s soccer championships on the CBU campus.
Describing the feeling of notching the lone goal of the match – in such dramatic fashion—as “amazing,” Boudreau said in a post-match interview that she told her teammates that the moment felt like “an out-of-body experience.”
On the pivotal tally, Grace Longley (Bedford, N.S.) sailed a ball into the box, which Boudreau soared to get a head on, directing it by Dalhousie goalkeeper Annabel Gravely (Toronto, ON), who could only get her fingertips on the shot as she lunged to her left to try to make the save.
Boudreau garnered the first quality scoring chance of the match, when she made a run and then unleashed a left-footed shot that went wide behind Gravely.
The Tigers’ best opportunity of a defensive-minded first half came when Inari Moore (Whitby, ON) kept the ball alive on the end line before finding forward Zoe Brown (Halifax, N.S.), whose shot missed over the top of the net.
In the second half, one with few chances, the best of the bunch probably came in the 90th minute, when AUS first-team all-star Lauren Jodrey (Bedford, N.S.) headed a Longley corner kick just over the crossbar.
The first 15-minute extra session solved nothing, setting the stage for Boudreau’s late heroics.
“We were a little rusty, but we figured it out,” Boudreau offered of her team’s start in the match.
She added, “We earned it [the win], we really earned it.”
With the victory, Acadia secured a spot in a semi-final match Friday afternoon versus the host Cape Breton University (CBU) Capers.
“It is going to be a hard-fought game—both ways,” Boudreau predicts.
She says, “We expect it to be an even match.”
Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. AST. Both women's semifinals will be webcast on AUStv.ca.
Recaps courtesy of Corey LeBlanc / CBU