The St. Albert Impact women’s team is one win away from advancing into a higher division after a blowout win against the Ice on Thursday night.
The Impact Division 2A women’s team needs only one more win this season to advance into Division 1 after beating the Ice-Lodhar 7-1. With six games left in the season, they currently sit at the top of the league with 27 points and are sitting a comfortable 10 points above the second place team.
The Impact came out strong and got to work immediately, scoring on a rush just two minutes into the game. Amber Cuthbert led the rush and sent the ball soaring past the keeper to put the home team ahead. The first-place Impact continued to put pressure on the last-place Ice by out-passing and out-pacing them at every opportunity.
Halfway through the first half the Impact found the net again and managed to score two more times before the mid-game break.
Despite finishing the first half up by four, the Impact continued to improve their game through the following half.
“I think we improved in the second half,” coach Terrie Wispinski said. “We needed to spread out more and we were crowded too much in the middle. The first half we didn’t do that but we spread out over the field in the second half.”
The home team kept the Ice keeper busy during the second half with a blitz of offence but she successfully held them off.
“The other team didn’t have a lot of players and they had a good keeper tonight,” Wispinski said.
The opponents spent the night with only one substitute while St. Albert had a full bench of six replacements ready to jump in for relief. The Impact team was able to bring up younger players in the St. Albert soccer system to pad the bench and give some experience to the young players.
The visitors finally got a break 60 minutes into the game to net their only goal of the night. A long pass left the Ice wide open with an opportunity to race past the defenders and send the ball soaring past the keeper. The goal energized the visitors and they continued to apply pressure but they weren’t strong enough to overcome the Impact. The home team netted another three before the end of the game for a final score of 7-1.
The first place Impact (10-0-1) will play the third place Dreadnought 1 Varley (5-1-4) on Sunday July 10 at 7 p.m. at Strathcona Athletic Park in Sherwood Park. A win Sunday would solidify the team’s place at the top of the league and ensure advancement into Division 1 for the next season.
