TORONTO, Ont - The St. Clair Saints rebounded from a quarter-final loss to defeat the Cambrian Golden Shield 1-0 and advance to the Consolation Championship match.
The Saints opened the scoring in the 24th minute. A well-struck corner kick landed just in front of the Golden Shield's goal. The Golden Shield defender outleaped the Saints attacker, but only grazed the ball with her head. The deflection went right to Cassie Nicholas who headed the ball into the goal.
In the 27th minute, the Saints looked to expand their lead, but a penalty kick was deflected wide by Cambrian's goalkeeper to remain 1-0.
The Saints nearly made it 2-0 in the 89th minute. An opportunity in close was stopped by the Golden Shield goalkeeper. The rebounded rolled between the goalkeeper's legs, but was saved right on the goal line by a Golden Shield defender before being cleared out of bounds.
The Golden Shield made one final attempt to even the match, but goalkeeper Madison Kaldenbach narrowly beat the Golden Shield attacker to the loose ball before the final whistle sounded.
The win puts the Saints into the Consolation Championship tomorrow at 9:00am against the Algonquin Thunder. The Golden Shield had their season come to an end.
Madison Kaldenbach was named Player of the Game for the Saints while Jessie Hayward took the honours for the Golden Shield.
