VICTORIA, B.C. - The University of Victoria Vikes women's soccer team dispatched the Regina Cougars 1-0 on home turf on Oct. 3, stretching their winning run to six games after a slow start to the season at 0-2-1. The Vikes have pushed on strongly from that early season slump, now sitting at 6-2-1 on the season and in second place in the West Division behind the UBC Thunderbirds. Their counterparts the Regina Cougars fall to 1-5-2 on the season, sitting sixth in the Canada West East Division.

[BOX SCORE]    [STANDINGS]

The lone goal of the match for the Vikes came off the foot of second-year midfielder Caitlin Milham on a lobed effort of a corner kick in the 62nd minute of play. The Vikes unleashed a torrent of 25 shots with 13 on target towards Cougars goalkeeper Savannah Williams, who earned the most valuable player honours for her play in net tonight.

The Cougars struggled to generate any significant offensive chances throughout the match, directing only three shots with two on target against Vikes goalkeeper Meaghan Storie. The clean sheet is Storie's second in a row and fifth on the season.

The Vikes came closest to scoring first off a corner in the 18th minute. Fifth-year forward Emma Greig powered her header off a corner just wide of the top corner and over the bar. The effort left Williams flat-footed, and she was happy to see the ball sail high and wide to keep the score even.
 
The Vikes came roaring back in the 23rd minute when Elder had two cracks at the ball in close quarters to the Cougars' net. Williams smartly stopped the first effort from Elder, and the rebound went just wide and off the side of the net.
 
Williams was called upon regularly in the first half, and had to be quick to stop another Vikes effort on the short left-side post that could've been the go ahead goal in the 34th minute. At this point, the Vikes had sent 12 shots Williams' way while Storie only entertained a single shot.
 
The first half would come to a close with both teams still locked at 0-0, but the Vikes dominated the shot department 15-1.

Finally, the Vikes were rewarded for their efforts on their sixth corner of the match in the 62nd minute.After winnign a free-kick, the ball fell to Milham beside a crowd of bodies in the middle of the box. Milham connected with her shot and placed it over Williams and into the far side netting to give the Vikes their deserved lead of 1-0.

The last push of the game from the Cougars was their best chance of the night that almost made it a tie game. After conceding a corner, the Vikes had to scramble to clear the ball in the box and prevent the equalizing goal.

But Milham's goal eventually became the winner as time ran down to give the Vikes the 1-0 lead and stretch their win streak to six games. The Cougars leave their two-game road trip to the west coast pointless after losing Friday's match-up with the UBC Thunderbirds 3-0.

Despite the flurry of chances, Vikes women's soccer head coach Tracy David thought the team could've done more to put the game away early. It wasn't about the number of shots directed at the Regina goal, but the number of opportunities that weren't converted. 

"We created chances but we didn't hit the target," said David. "When you don't hit the target you're susceptible of losing games. At the very end they had a dangerous chance off a corner that could've been in the back of the net to make a tie game. We have to be more consistent and more composed around the goal. When teams have a lot of the run of the play and chances like we did, sometimes it's can turn against you."

The Vikes take their 6-2-1 record on the road for the next three games, including a clash with rivals the UBC Thunderbirds on Oct. 9 at Thunderbird Stadium. The Vikes will then travel to Alberta to meet the Lethbridge Pronghorns and the high-flying Calgary Dinos Oct. 17-18. The Cougars look to rebound with a rivalry clash of their own in a double-header weekend against the Saskatchewan Huskies Oct. 10-11.

Follow all of these matches live on canadawest.tv.
 

Game Summary:
UVIC: 0 – 1: 1
REG: 0 – 0 : 0

Scoring Summary:
UVIC: Caitlin Milham (62')
REG: /

MVPs:
UVIC: Caitlin Milham
REG: Savannah Williams

Cautions:
UVIC: / 
REG: /