Brent Mutis, CapU Sport Information & Compliance Officer
Maya Smith had never scored a goal as a member of the Capilano Blues before last weekend but that changed in a big way after she scored a hat trick Saturday in a 3-2 win over the visiting Douglas College Royals and followed that up with a stunning strike for the game-winner Sunday, a 2-1 triumph against the Vancouver Island University (VIU) Mariners.
Smith came off the bench for coach Dennis Kindel (interview below) in both games, having sat out the previous weekend with injury. The second-year product of Port Coquitlam, B.C. came on about the 25-minute mark each game and instantly went to work creating havoc for the opposition. Douglas opened the scoring Saturday but Smith - who would score all the Blues goals on the day and four of the team's five on the weekend - had the reply just over 10 minutes later going post-and-in to get CapU on the board.
Douglas went up a goal in the 37th minute but again Smith had a quick response with a goal less than two minutes later to make it 2-2 going into halftime.
The score remained deadlocked until the late going when a long throw in by Lauren Grey led to a loose ball in front of the Royals net and Smith made no mistake, completing the hat trick with only injury time remaining.
On Sunday, Smith was the story again. Her lone goal was one for the Blues all-time highlight reel as she beat two Mariners defenders and, from a sharp angle just inside the 18-yard box, drove the ball with a perfect shot over VIU keeper Melanie Osborne's head and into the top left corner of the net. The goal came with less than 10 minutes to go and held up as the winner.
CapU opened the scoring Sunday with rookie Jacqueline Reinhard doing the honours, again set up by a long throw in from Grey. VIU equalized in the 78th minute which set the stage for Smith's heroics.
The Blues are in action again Wednesday, Sept. 28 in a 5:30 p.m. kickoff against Langara. The game will be played at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby.
Dennis Kindel, Blues head coach:
