Gurneet Dhaliwal scored twice to lift the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades to a 2-1 victory over Simon Fraser University in women’s exhibition soccer action this week.
Dhaliwal, a freshman forward from Surrey, scored in the 25th and 54th minutes to stake the Canadian Interuniversity Sport No. 4-ranked Cascades to a 2-0 lead at Abbotsford Senior Secondary on Wednesday.
SFU cut the deficit in half on a Sophie D’Souza goal in the 79th minute, but UFV hung on for the win.
The Cascades opened the game with a great scoring chance, but Clan keeper Priya Sandhu came charging out and narrowly beat UFV’s Danica Kump to a through ball.
At the other end of the pitch, SFU had a couple of great looks on a goalmouth scramble following a free kick, but saw one shot glance off the crossbar and another cleared off the line by Cascades defender Dayle Jeras.
Later, Fraser Valley keeper Kayla Klim had to be sharp to tip Burnaby freshman Christina Dickson’s rising shot over the bar.
Dhaliwal notched her first goal as a Cascade off a corner, soaring to head the ball home past the Clan’s Sandhu.
Early in the second half, Dhailwal made it 2-0 with a sure finish off a cross from fellow rookie Brittany Zacharuk.
The Clan didn’t have many clean looks at goal after halftime, but D’Souza snuck one past Cascades backup keeper Emily Harold in the 79th minute. Krystiana Corrado picked up the assist.
The Clan opens its NCAA Division II non-conference schedule with a home match on Saturday, Sept. 5 against Humboldt State University at 5 p.m. on Terry Fox Field.
SFU will open Great Northwest conference play against Seattle Pacific on Sept. 19.
The Clan’s conference home opener is scheduled for Sept. 24 against Central Washington at 5 p.m.
