RECAP: Women’s soccer scores a bunch, beats York convincingly

The Gee-Gees women's soccer team avenged their 2019 playoff loss by topping the York Lions 4-0 in front of a loud Matt Anthony Field crowd Saturday afternoon. 

Nibo Dlamini, Kaylane Hogue and Emma Lefebvre got the goals for the Gee-Gees. 

"We're still learning about ourselves," said Gee-Gees head coach Steve Johnson. "We had a short training camp with not a lot of game opportunities, so I'm very pleased with today's performance."

It didn't take long for Ottawa to get the opening goal of the match. In the fourth minute, Sadie Sider-Echenberg slide a slick ball across the 18-yard box for Dhalmini. The rookie slotted a shot into the bottom corner for her first career goal.

"I haven't really taken it in yet," said Dhalmini of her goal. "I put a lot of work in over the summer, so for it to show on the field is great. As a team, we played really well and gelled together."

Ottawa extended their lead just shy of the half. Kayla Hogue made a couple of moves and had an open strike at goal. York goalkeeper Patricia Vrysellas got a piece of it but couldn't keep it out of the net. 

The goals kept coming in the second half, with Lefebvre chipping the goalkeeper and Hogue getting her second by skipping past a number of defenders before finishing it off.

In her first appearance as a Gee-Gee, Cassidy Joslin kept a cleansheet. Rookie defender Maya Smith played the full 90 minutes at centre back in her first game action in Garnet and Grey, while Trinity Esprit created numerous opportunities with her pace down the flank. 

"We have a lot of new girls this year," said Lefebvre, who is now on 25 career regular season goals. "We were faced with a lot of challenges with training camp starting later. We've adapted well and we had a lot of energy coming from the bench. We made the most of the opportunities we had."

The Gee-Gees hit the road next week to face Ontario Tech (Saturday, Oct. 2) and Trent (Sunday, Oct. 3). They'll be back in Ottawa the following week for a home-and-home with the Carleton Ravens.