V-Reds follow big win with blowout loss

After an impressive 2-1 win on Saturday over the Atlantic University Sport's top women's soccer team, the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers, the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds were pummelled 7-0 by the Cape Breton Capers on Sunday. The Reds now sit at 3-5-2 with 11 points in sixth spot.

"We got a great result against the fourth-ranked team in the country," said head coach Andy Cameron. "We left it on the field, and we had to come back today and play another very good team. We were physically and mentally fatigued and with that comes bad touches and bad decisions. It just went from bad to worse."

The Capers took what little momentum the Reds had after their big win on Saturday with goals in the seventh, 10th and 13th minutes of play. The game would settle down for the remainder of the half, until the Capers scored four more times in the second.

CBU midfielder Karolyne Blaine worked the UNB fullbacks relentlessly, scoring twice in the victory. Jessica Furtado also tallied twice, while Lauren Ferguson, Erika Lannon and Danielle MacDonald added singles.

"They've got a couple of quick players we struggled to keep up with, and give them credit," Cameron said. "They played very well and put us in a situation where we struggled."

It was all Capers for the 90 minutes. They were first on 50-50 balls, moved the ball effectively and stunted any UNB attack.

"They're defending champions and they showed it today," said Cameron.

The first offensive pressure the Reds sustained was in the 32nd minute in the form of a couple of corner kicks, which were eventually cleared with ease by the Capers. UNB's best opportunity came in the 93rd minute when Julie Rae snuck past the CBU defensive line and narrowly missed the bottom right corner, sending her strike wide.

It was a polar opposite performance from Saturday's strong showing against the Panthers, both offensively and defensively speaking. First-year keeper Jackie Blank, who was shelled for seven goals against on Sunday, stood tall in goal for the Reds, allowing a single goal on seven shots.

On the offensive side, UNB's attack was much more potent. Reds rookie Brianna Ford netted her first and second goals to lift the Reds to their third win of the year. Jenna MacDonald scored the lone goal for UPEI.

"We attacked much better as a unit and we created better quality chances in the offensive third," Cameron said.