Thunder take down Vikings

By Chris Geminiano

gemi0001@algonquincollege.com

In the world of sports, it’s commonly said that to be the best, you have to beat the best.

That certainly wasn’t the case for the St. Lawrence Vikings, who arrived in Ottawa with the goal of just playing a competitive game.

But in their final home game of the season, the Algonquin Thunder women’s soccer team played to a 3-0 win over the Vikings, their second shutout win over them this season.

“We knew they were going to come out with redemption. We wanted to play to our full potential and we feel that we did that,” said midfielder Jen Groleau, who scored a goal in the 36th minute.

The goal resulted from a one-time pass from captain Ally Pross. Vikings goalkeeper, Andrea Flieler made the initial save, but Groleau got her own rebound for the tally.

Flieler came out to challenge an Algonquin shot in the 41st minute, but ended up breaking her hand on the play. She grimaced in pain, but finished the first-half before being replaced in the second-half.

“I told them they needed to play with a lot more intensity and they needed to play a lot tougher. I’m far happier than the last performance against them,” said St. Lawrence head coach Ian Armitage.

Although the game could be seen as a tune-up for Algonquin, who already clinched a trip to provincials, Thunder head coach Garth Gittens wanted to make sure his team still battled hard.

“Beating them by more was not the object. It was playing our game and playing our game for 90 minutes. We played well. We moved the ball around and got all the players in, which is something I’d like to try and do even though it’s not a priority. Even until the end, they put up quite a battle,” said Gittens.

Pross agreed.

“We knew having beaten them last time that they would come out and play hard. We just had to keep the ball on the ground and overall I can’t complain,” said Pross.

Pross, who leads the team in goals, scored in the 31st and 46th minutes, and made great individual efforts on both goals.