Chilliwack’s U-15 soccer Striker girls suffered a rare loss last weekend, falling 2-0 on the road to the Coquitlam Fusion.
Working with a shorthanded roster due to injuries and illness, the locals got off to a sluggish start.
They held their own in both the defensive and offensive zones, but the midfield belonged to Coquitlam.
The first Fusion goal came 26 minutes into the first half — a ball deflected off a Chilliwack defender in the 18 yard box, and a Fusion shooter one-timed a bullet into the net.
Chilliwack had some opportunities to equalize, including breakaways by Makayla Pfeifer, Emily Finley, Haley Mainse and Kiana Thiessen. But the finish was lacking.
Chilliwack’s offence pressed in the second half, but any Coquitlam breakdowns were covered up by their stellar keeper.
On one particularly glorious chance, Brett Karcioglu crossed the ball to Finley, who launched a textbook header on net from six yards out.
But the ball hit the unsuspecting keeper and was then kicked out of danger by a defender.
A let-down by the Strikers at the 28 minute mark sealed their fate — Chilliwack keeper Samantha Chand made a great diving save on the initial shot, but couldn’t coral the rebound.
A Coquitlam player booted it into the empty net.
After a stretch on the road, Chilliwack finally gets some home games over the next two weeks, hosting the North Shore Scorpions on Sunday at Townsend Park.