WSOC: Thunder burst into ACAC finals

The Concordia Thunder rumbled to a spot in the ACAC championship game by taking out their cross-city rivals from NAIT 3-0 in a semifinal on a sunny but windy Saturday afternoon. It was a physical, hard-fought affair fitting of the all-Edmonton rivalry, but the Thunder, who led the ACAC north division with an 11-1 regular season record, persevered to secure the victory and a spot in Sunday's championship game against the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens. 

"We were just trying to stick with our game plan," said Franco Imbrogno, Concordia head coach. "They've been a formidable force for so many years, so it was just continuing to play our game."

The team's traded chances in the first half. The Thunder's best early look came off the foot of Caylie Rich (second year, Edmonton) who found herself open right in front of the net, but netminder Kailey Harder (fourth year, Advanced Care Paramedic, Edmonton), charged out to make the save and preserve the clean sheet. At the other end of the pitch, a great opportunity for NAIT turned into a scary looking incident as Toni Burse (fourth year, Business Administration, Edmonton) went up for a header near the goal line. The ball drifted wide as Burse collided with Thunder goalkeeper Monica Dickson (fourth year, Edmonton) in mid-air. Both players received medical attention, but fortunately, both were able to remain in the game.

Late in the opening half, the Thunder caught a break to open the scoring. In the 40th minute, a NAIT defender played the ball back to Harder near the Ooks net, but the spinning ball caused confusion for the NAIT netminder as she misplayed it, allowing Concordia's Rich to deposit the ball into a wide-open net. The miscue gave the Thunder a 1-0 lead at half.

The Ooks had won seven of the past nine ACAC championships, but found it tough to generate chances on Saturday. The second half started with the second scary collision of the game between NAIT forward Burse and Concordia keeper Dickson. Once again, Dickson made the save, but both players stayed down on the pitch for several minutes receiving medical attention. Dickson was again able to stay in the game, but Burse received a yellow card and also left the game due to an injury.

The Thunder broke through in the 80th minute as Breanna Callander (fourth year, Edmonton) sent a perfect lead pass through the middle to Vanessa Pietramala (second year, Edmonton) who ripped the ball into the back of the net for a 2-0 Concordia lead. The Thunder cemented the victory in extra time, as once again, Callander sent a through pass to Madison Gamache (fourth year, Edmonton) who fired home Concordia's third goal of the game to cap off the victory.

Defender Anne McLelland (second year, Edmonton) was named player of the game for the Thunder, while midfielder Lamisi Sirett (first year, Academic Upgrading, Edmonton) earned player of the game for the Ooks.

"The key is just keeping our heads working together as a team," says McLelland. "Just doing what we've done the entire season."

The Thunder will face the Queens for the championship at 3 p.m. on Sunday at Comets Stadium in Raymond, Alta. The Ooks will now play the host Lethbridge College Kodiaks with a bronze medal on the line at 10 a.m. sunday morning