OSHAWA, Ont – The Durham Lords women's soccer team were defeated in their home opener by the Algonquin Thunder after two second half goals sealed three points for last year's OCAA champions.
 
The first chance of the game came in the 11^th minute when Jacklyn Brzezinski (Ajax, Ont.) found some space in the box but her effort was saved by the Thunder's goalie.
 
Madison Gardner (Brooklin, Ont.) was forced off in the 15^th minute after a knee injury and didn't return.
 
The sides were level at the break with Algonquin leading in shots with four, while the Lords had three.

"It was a well fought game by both sides. I'm happy with the way we played, we created a number of scoring opportunities, but did not capitalize on," said head coach Alex Bianchi. "At half, we talked about keeping the game simple and avoiding any silly mistakes. Unfortunately in the second half we made two poor errors which Algonquin punished us for. When making those mistakes against one of the best teams in the country you're going to come up short on the score sheet. The mood was positive after the game, we know what did wrong and I reminded everyone that we did a heck of a lot things right today, so we will prepare ourselves this week for our upcoming two games next weekend."
 
Algonquin took an early second half lead after a goal-mouth scramble ended with Courtney Gibbs putting the ball in the net from close range.
 
The Thunder continued to press forward and made it two in the 62^nd minute after Victoria Trimble latched onto a pass, beat Jenna King (Ajax, Ont.) and found the bottom right corner.
 
The Lords began pushing for a way back into the game and came close in the 77^th minute when Natassha Hassenstein (Oshawa, Ont.) found herself with a yard but sent her shot over the crossbar.
 
Algonquin out-shot the Lords 6-5 in the Saturday afternoon contest. King finished with four save, while her counterpart Kirsten Skinner tallied 5.
 
The Lords will now travel to face the St. Lawrence Vikings on Friday, Sept. 14 at 6 p.m.
 

QUICK LOOK AT THE LORDS

Overall Record: 2-3-0 (W-L-D)
Conference Record: 1-1-0
 
Next match: Friday, Sept. 14 vs. St. Lawrence College (6 p.m. – Kingston, Ont.)

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