Okanagan FC PCSL

A weekend home series had the OFC squad competing against the 3rd place Fraser Valley Action on Saturday June 11. From the kick off the Action dominated ball possession and caused OFC some difficulty as they strung passes together cutting through the OFC defensive efforts. Exceptional goalkeeping from Christine Tallon thwarted the FV attack for a while but the Action managed to captialize twice before the half time whistle. Determined to work hard and claw a goal back Okanagan FC battled hard and created a couple of good scoring chances but were kept off the scoreboard. Fraser Valley potted home a thrid goal in the 50th minute to put the game out of reach.

“We came out for this game with a couple of goals in mind – limit their set piece opportunities and work hard to compete. We were successful in both these aspects and I am happy with the strides we have made.” Claire

The second match of the weekend had OFC defending the turf against second place Whitecaps Prospects. To this point the prospects have not lost a game and have only dropped points to UBC Thunderbirds with a 2-2 tie. Okanagan stepped up their game and played very hard from the starting whistle. Another great effort by goalkeeper Christine Tallon kept the WFC Prospects at bay for the first part of the half and however they were the first to get on the scoreboard (28min)when a ball squeeked through Tallons grasp. Determined to answer back OFC continued to press and in the 40th min Paige Howes was sprung with a through ball and she slotted the ball past the ’Caps goalkeeper to tied things up.

The Prospects came out hard in the second half but OFC was up for the challenge and defended 7 corners to keep them off the score board. It wasn’t until the 75 minute when the Prospects went ahead after they were awarded a penalty shot after Michelle Smith was seen to impede their top player & U20 National team athlete as she went to attack a corner. OFC continued to fight and Jessie Weninger nearly scored as she hit a ball that bounced and beat the goalkeeper but just a bit too high and it slipped past the crossbar. Late sub Ashlee Davison was the hero as she riffled home a volley in the 45 min to tie the match 2-2.

“I am very proud of the team as we really stepped up our game. We are getting more comfortable with each other and are starting to play more as a team. We have set a new bar for ourselves and will strive to build upon todays preformace. This is a great confidence booster as we go into the second half of the schedule.” Claire