Record-Breaking Win: Provost Passes Pilar in Bytown Battle
By It was a beautiful day for the beautiful game on Saturday as the uOttawa Gee-Gees women’s soccer team took to the pitch once more, facing off against their fellow Ottawans in Carleton University Ravens.
Sitting on a three-game winning streak, Steve Johnson’s Gee-Gees would look to further cement their place at the top of the OUA-East division, having taken the spot the weekend prior with a 5-0 and 4-1 win over the Nipissing Lakers and the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks, respectively.
However, the biggest headline going into this past weekend’s Bytown Battle was Cassandra Provost and the program’s career goals record. Held at 58 by Pilar Khoury since her departure from the program in 2016, the Acton Vale, QC native Provost tied it in stellar fashion a week prior against the Lakers with a hat trick. Come the onset of Saturday’s meeting with the Carleton Ravens, and the pressure was on Provost to lead her side not just to a ninth victory on the campaign, but also towards a record-breaking W.
Despite it being a lower-scoring affair come final whistle, both of these objectives would ultimately be accomplished as the Gee-Gees secured a five-point lead over the Queen’s Gaels in the divisional standings.
The Gee-Gees relied heavily on their back-line on Saturday as the first half was filled with a lot of attacking resets and rebuilds from the defence on up. Oppositely, the Carleton Ravens played a very rigid structure in the first, looking to capitalize on any gaps in uOttawa’s very offensively-minded roster.
Due to this, neither keepers Cassidy Joslin nor Chloe Lachance-Soulard were given too much reason to fret beyond a close call for the Gee-Gees after a Ravens free-kick in the 25′ that snuck past the wall and rolledjust outside of the right post.
Once the referee blew for the start of the second half, however, the Garnet and Grey found their footing and wasted no time in taking the lead. Just three minutes into the period, a quick feed to from Jenna Matsukubo to a sprinting Ava Donohue granted her the time and space she needed to cross it into the penalty area, towards the head of a jumping Cass Provost. With her redirecting it to the wide-open right side of the net, the diving Lachance-Soulard stood no chance in stopping it.
With that goal, Provost clinched her 59th conversion in just four seasons at the University of Ottawa, including during a shortened 10-game season in 2021 where she netted seven in just nine appearances. Considering her dominating performances year after year at the USports level, it is all but confirmed that Provost will not be returning for her final year of eligibility at uO, but rather will be signing with one of the six inaugural Northern Super League sides, due to kick off in April 2025.
As the minutes ticked away, the Ravens were desperate not to give up fourth loss of the season and tried everything to beat uOttawa’s Joslin in net. This was ever apparent in the final 10 minutes (including added time) where Carleton rallied hard with back to back corners and chances but were ultimately dissuaded away from the back of the net. With the eventual coming of the referee’s final whistle jubilation erupted from the uOttawa side of the bleachers as many recognized the significance of the match they had just witnessed.
uOttawa now enter their final weekend of matches for the 2024 regular season with a road trip to the home of The Tragically Hip in Kingston as they take on the RMC Paladins (0W-9L) and their rivals, the Queen’s Gaels (7W-1D-1L), for the second time this season. Games are streamed live at OUA[dot]tv while tickets can be purchased via the RMC and Queens athletics websites.
Header Image Credit: Greg Kolz (IG: GregKolz)
