T-Wolves drop physical affair against Thompson Rivers

The Thompson Rivers Wolfpack cut the field in half and pounded the UNBC Timberwolves into submission.

A pair of second half goals from Harry Taylor and Jonathan Rinaldi propelled the Wolfpack to a 2-1 victory on Sunday at Masich Place Stadium in Canada West men’s soccer.

TRU blitzed the T-Wolves by peppering goalkeeper Damiel Zadravec with 13 shots on goal.

Despite a scoreless opening 45 minutes, the Wolfpack carried the play with several great chances.

Their best chance came in the 42nd minute when Domenico Comita sent a ball into the box, finding the extended right foot of his brother Alesandro, who got directed towards the open side of the net.

However, Zadravec made a sprawling save to his left, punching it out of harm’s way before it could cross the line.

In the second half, the WolfPack’s physicality ramped up against a UNBC lineup starting seven rookies and bringing two more off the bench. Timberwolves defenders Wyatt Lyon, Zack Sidhu, and wingers Gregor Smith and Isaac Tate were lost to injury, so Steve Simonson dipped into his reserves.

TRU broke the deadlock in the 51st minute. A Patrick Izett corner found its way to Harry Taylor who would deposit it past a helpless Zadravec to open the scoring.

Eight minutes later, a broken play in the box would lead to Junior Agyekum slipping it to Rinaldi, who had the time and space to beat Zadravec and make it 2-0.

UNBC made a game of late as Connor Lewis flicked a header onto a streaking Michael Henman, who ran by TRU keeper Svyatik Artemenko and slid it into a relatively gaping cage for his third goal of the weekend in the 90th minute.

Each team received three yellow cards in the match as the Wolfpack improved to 1-5 on the season while the Timberwolves are 1-4-1.

UNBC hits the road on Sunday when they take on the winless Calgary Dinos (0-3-1).

In women’s action, the Timberwolves got scorched by the UBC Okanagan Heat by an 8-1 score on Saturday in Kelowna.

Stefanie Taylor led the charge for the Heat (3-1-1) notching a hat-trick while Sydney Kolodziej added two more.

Kelowna product Kambria Mellum scored in defeat for UNBC who drops to 0-4 on the season. The Timberwolves are back on the road next weekend when they play a pair in Winnipeg against the Wesman and Manitoba Bisons.