The WolfPack women’s soccer team has had a strong start to the season, remaining undefeated in their first four games, with two wins and two ties. Sept. 25 brought the ‘Pack back to Hillside Stadium for their first home game of the season, played against the UVic Vikes.
During the game, the ‘Pack started the night strong when, in the first thirty seconds, Makenna Ford sent the ball into the 18-yard box where it was met by a header from Esi Lufo. The pass made it to forward, Kat Stewart, who volleyed the ball into the bottom left corner of the net to put the ‘Pack on the board.
Throughout the first half, the WolfPack kept strong offensive pressure on the Vikes, but were unable to secure any more goals. A corner kick from Ford put the ball in front of the Vikes’ net, but the defence sent it out of bounds. A second corner kick from Stewart got closer, being met with a header from Lufo, but the shot was caught by UVic goalie Stefanie Mocnik. As the half neared its close, Lufo broke down the left side of the field with two Vikes on her. She drove the ball toward the left goalpost and got a pass off. The play ended with an unsuccessful shot on goal. The first half ended 1-0 in favour of the WolfPack.
“I think the first half might be some of the best football that this program has played at least since I’ve been here,” Pennington said. “We’re super proud of what the girls did; we’re proud of everything. If I’m being critical, we were a little bit wasteful with some of our chances around the net.”
During the second half, the ‘Pack kept the pressure on the Vikes, with more shots narrowly missing the net. A shot from Laila Rafou sent the ball straight across the opposing net, but it was unable to connect a pass.
At the midpoint of the second half, UVic found their footing when Anika Black sent a pass to Brianne McLeish, scoring the team’s first goal of the game.
With time dwindling, both teams created numerous scoring opportunities. UVic’s Raina Hagel had gotten past the goalie inside the box, but her shot was narrowly blocked by a WolfPack defender. The WolfPack’s best shot once again came from Stewart. “The kid’s an enigma,” Pennington said. “She does stuff like that; she doesn’t train it. She had a volley in the second half that was really well hit, and the goalie was well positioned to deal with it.” Despite the effort, the game ended tied at 1-1.
With a season standing of 2-0-3, the ‘Pack remain undefeated in the 2026-27 season. “I said to the girls, the fact that we feel a little bit frustrated that we’ve tied UVic shows how far we’ve come and our mentality,” Pennington said. “We’ll stay unbeaten, we’ll move on and dust ourselves off for tomorrow night.”
On Oct. 3, the WolfPack will play against Trinity Western in Langley, B.C. On Oct. 4, the team will be back in Kamloops to play against UFV.