VAUGHAN, Ont. - While a playoff spot had already been secured, the penultimate game of the OCAA regular season still had meaning for the Sheridan Bruins women's soccer team (6-1 OCAA) as they were still in the hunt for the OCAA West Division title.

A goal in the first few seconds of the second half all but dashed those hopes, as they suffered their first loss, 1-0, to Humber.

"We definitely played too defensive," assistant coach Nadene Boothe said. "We didn't play Sheridan soccer which is what we've been playing for most of the season and that definitely hindered us."

It was a bit of a slow start for the Lady Bruins as Humber had two quality chances in the first eight minutes, but Lianne Slichter made two big saves - first pushing a threatening strike from the top of the box over the bar and then lunging to her left to push another aside - to prevent goals.

Although the two sides remained scoreless at the half, Humber struck just 20 seconds into the second half when there was a scramble in front of the Sheridan goal and nobody in blue was able to clear it.

Sheridan dodged another bullet in the 71st minute when another Humber offensive was turned away by the post.

This seemed to awaken the Lady Bruins however and they began to play with a renewed urgency and were nearly rewarded with an equalizer, but could not find the final touch required.

With one game remaining - against Niagara at home on October 10 - they will still be seeking a positive result to help them secure a bye past the first round of the playoffs and a home quarter-final date.

Boothe says in order to be hitting optimal levels going into the post-season the team must continue to push the pace on the training pitch and in their final game.

"The tempo has to stay up," she said. "We can't relax. Going forward, the game's all get more important and so we have to keep that high tempo and work hard in practice."

Source: Sheridan I.T.