RECAP: Ottawa defeats Donghua University for first win at inaugural FISU World Cup
The University of Ottawa opened their campaign at the 2019 FISU University World Cup – Football with a dominant 2-0 win.
JINJIANG, China (U SPORTS) – The University of Ottawa opened their campaign at the 2019 FISU University World Cup – Football with a dominant 2-0 win over host China's Donghua University behind a two-goal effort from striker Emma Lefebvre.
It was a warm but rainy evening at Quanzhou Vocational and Technical University Stadium in Jinjiang, China for the University of Ottawa's first match of the FISU World Cup tournament.
The Gee-Gees quickly turned on the pressure, falling just short on a handful of opportunities in the early stages of the contest. Three consecutive corner kicks wore the Donghua defence down, eventually leading to the turning-point of the first half.
Delaney Rickart-Hall collected the ball following a collision and found a surging Mikayla Morton who charged toward the Donghua net. Morton delivered the ball across to fourth-year striker Lefebvre, who beat the keeper for the first goal of the match in the 33rd minute.
Despite intense back-and-forth physical play, the Gee-Gees were able to be dominant in keeping the ball in the offensive end to start the second half.
Strong on defense throughout the U SPORTS season, Ottawa continued their excellent play on the backline, holding Donghua to only one shot on goal in the match. Offensively, the Gee-Gees earned five corner kicks to Donghua's two.
In the 67th minute, Levebvre and the Gee-Gees iced the game with a second goal, securing their first win of the group stages. Goalkeeper Margot Shore secured the clean sheet in the victory.
The Gee-Gees will have a day of training before their second group stage match on Sunday. They will face off against Russia's Siberian Federal University, who suffered a 3-0 loss in their tournament opener.
Kick-off will be set for 6 p.m. local time (5 a.m. EST) at Jinjiang Sports Center Stadium