Sea Hawks Spoil VReds Home Opener
MUN over UNB 4-1
(FREDERICTON, NB) It wasn't the second half Jon Crossland was hoping to see.
"The things we did really well in the first half, we didn't do them in the second half," said Crossland.
The head coach of the UNB Varsity Reds watched his team give up four second half goals, dropping their home opener 4-1 to the Memorial Sea Hawks, in front of a crowd of 450.
"That's a good team, they're first place for a reason," said Crossland. "They make you pay when you give them chances and we gave them chances."
The Varsity Reds opened the scoring in the 16th minute, when Sea Hawks keeper Taylor Doyle(Burnt Cove, NL) mishandled the ball in a goal-mouth scramble. The own goal gave UNB a 1-0 lead.
The home side would carry that lead through the end of the first half.
The second half was all Memorial.
Just two minutes in, Varsity Reds keeper Sami Jo Bell(East Dover, NS) was called for fouling a Sea Hawk inside the box. Hannah Rivkin(St. John's, NL) scored on the ensuing penalty.
A hand ball, in the 56th minute, gave Memorial a second chance from the spot.
Holly O'Neill(St. John's, NL) converted that kick, giving the visitors a lead they would never relinquish.
Jessie Noseworthy(St. John's, NL) scored in the 63rd minute to give the Sea Hawks a 3-1 lead.
Emily Bailey(Mount Pearl, NL) added another for MUN, in the 72nd minute.
It was a tale of two halves for the Sea Hawks.
"We went into the change room and our coach just gave us a good talk," said Rivkin, who was named the Subway Player of the Game. "We had some calls that went our way, in the second half, to be honest, but we also just pushed a little harder than they did, I think."
Varsity Reds' 5th year fullback Laura McNicholas(Doncaster, UK) admits they didn't play as well as they could've.
"We know that we can play better than that, and we just didn't play to the standard that we can," said McNicholas.
"It's very disappointing," said Coach Crossland. "In the first home game of the season, with a big crowd, you've got a 1-0 lead at half-time, and you come out and lay an egg, really, in the second half."
UNB will have to recover quickly.
The Varsity Reds host the UPEI Panthers, on Sunday, at 1:00PM, at BMO Centre.
"There's going to be some hurt feelings here, for the next 24 hours," says Crossland. "We have to suck it up and come back and give our fans something better than that second half today."
While UNB prepares to host UPEI, the Sea-Hawks travel to Moncton, for a Sunday date with les Aigles Bleus.