The Cascades women notched a pair of impressive 1-1 ties on the weekend against two of Canada’s top teams, the University of Victoria Vikes and the UBC Thunderbirds. UVic, the defending national champions, came in with the No. 1 national ranking and a seven-game win streak dating back to last season. UBC, which won the 2002 and 2003 CIS titles, came in with the No. 6 national ranking.

The favoured Vikes grabbed an early lead on Saturday at Rotary Stadium. Defender Sarah Cameron took a 40-yard crack on goal that yielded a rebound, and Mariel Solsberg chipped it in, making up for a missed penalty kick earlier in the game.

UCFV tied it up late in the half on a goal by Natsha Kosolofski, her first of the season. The Victoria keeper made a beautiful diving save on an initial strike from Kristen VanderPauw, but was out of position for the rebound and Kosolofski tapped it in.

On Sunday, the Cascades took an early lead on UBC when Maggie Lang found the net. Lang found herself in prime position to tap in Tauren Stonehouse’s free kick in the 38th minute.

The Thunderbirds were forced to play catch-up, and couldn’t get anything past UCFV keeper Angela Garriott until the 79th minute. UBC junior Jill Kinsman stole the ball at mid-field beat Garriott high on a breakaway.

The UCFV men are still in search of their first CIS win, as they fell 3-0 to the University of Alberta and 2-0 to the University of Saskatchewan on the weekend.

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