It didn't take long for Emma Greig to have an impact for the University of Victoria Vikes women's soccer team on Saturday at Centennial Stadium.
After watching the scoreless first half from the UVic bench, Vikes' coach Tracy David inserted Greig in the lineup.
Just one minute into the second half, Greig scored off a corner kick. It was just the start of things to come for Greig as the second-year Vike scored three goals as UVic blanked the Mount Royal Cougars from Calgary 5-0.
Lindsay Hoetzel and Mallory Hackett also scored secondhalf goals for UVic.
"Our team in the first half just wore them down,'' said Greig, who went to high school in Parksville. "After we got the first goal, the floodgates just opened and we really poured it on.''
UVic rookie Sarah Douglas assisted on the Greig's second marker with a great individual effort. Douglas raced around a Mount Royal defender and then fed a perfect pass to the trailer Greig, who headed the ball past Cougars' goalkeeper Kelsey Marklund.
"That was a perfect setup from Sarah,'' said Greig. "She played really well tonight.''
David said the key to the game was not letting Mount Royal build any momentum in the first half.
"We didn't give Mount Royal much in the first half and our starting team tired them out,'' said David. "Mount Royal did a very good job of bottling us up for a lot of the first half. Our team just stuck to the game plan and the players that we inserted into the game, gave us new energy. It was nice to see our players score some goals.''
The Vikes opened the season on Friday with a 1-1 tie against the visiting University of Alberta Pandas.
After a very defensive start to the game, the Vikes started to find their rhythm around the 30-minute mark. UVic's Jackie Harrison hit the post and then minutes later Douglas was foiled from close range. Mount Royal's Donella Lockhart had the best opportunity of the game near the end of the first half but her shot went off the crossbar.
Steph Parker and Tanya Jones shared the shutout. Jones replaced Parker after Greig's third goal during the 59th minute.
The Cougars, a new team in sa国际传媒 West, played their first league game on Friday and suffered a 3-0 loss to the Fraser Valley Cascades.
The Vikes are back in action on Saturday. They make the trip to Prince George to play University of Northern sa国际传媒
The Vikes are the host team for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Championships, Nov. 8-11 at Centennial Stadium.
- In the men's game, Cam Stokes scored two first-half goals as the Vikes blanked UNBC 8-0 to sweep the weekend series. The Vikes, defending CIS champions and ranked No. 1, notched a 3-1 win Friday.
Stokes opened the scoring before the three-minute mark and then he added his second during the 27th minute.
Thomas Mallette, on a penalty kick, and Adam Plantinga, Kurt Macaulay, Craig Taylor, Nicholas Mavrikos and Sam Prette also scored for the Vikes.
Rookie Stephen Welle, who went to high school at Pacific Christian, earned the shutout.
Vikes' coach Bruce Wilson used an almost totally different starting lineup for the Saturday's contest.
UVic is on the road next weekend against Pacific Division rivals with games on Friday at Trinity Western and Saturday at UBC.
