Following in the footsteps of their Friday matchup, the Cougars once again had to bear the brunt of bad weather conditions as they drew an even 1-1 against the visiting University of Fraser Valley Cascades on Mount Royal Field. 

As foreboding clouds surrounded the sky, the teams began the game with a 30-second moment of silence in honour of Truth and Reconciliation. The match was anything but quiet though, as the Cascades kicked off the first half and generated their first corner kick of the game in under 20 seconds.

Not to be outdone, Analisa Galvez quickly registered her first shot of the game in the ninth minute from just outside the box, but it sailed wide right and didn't challenge Cascades keeper, Alana Madec. 

Ella Filek was put to the test early as UFV's Jaspreet Deol tried to catch the Cougars keeper out of position. Filek dove to her right and used her strong hands to deflect the ball to Kyla Franks. From there, the Cougars used a series of pinpoint passes up the field to pull the Cascades' defenders apart.

That allowed Gabrielle Linford to feed Julia Makoloski on a dynamic sideline run up the left wing. One-on-one with the keeper and with Cascades defenders to her right, Makoloski found Galvez's left foot with a perfectly placed cross and Galvez tipped it past Madec for the Cougars' first goal of the game and her first goal in Canada West competition.

The Cougars dominated the possession in the first half as Dany Juarez and Kyla Franks both registered shots at the UFV net, only to be denied by Madec. Rain began to fall towards the late stages of the first half and the wind picked up in speed, dropping temperatures drastically as the teams ended the first half in a 1-0 game, advantage Cougars.

UFV and MRU both made substitutions to start the second half, with Juarez being relieved by Jordan Grundl for the Cougars. Just a minute in, UFV's Sarah Belcher, who came on to replace Kaitlyn Colmer, fed Keanna Langston on the right wing. Langston intended to cross the ball into the box to find Zoe Black but the pass curled unexpectedly towards Filek, who couldn't get to the ball in time and conceded the goal, putting the teams in a 1-1 stalemate.

Weather conditions began to improve midway though the second half, but the Cougars were forced to play defense for an extended period as the Cascades executed an offensive onslaught. Ruby Szautner put on her cape and saved the day as she blocked a perfectly placed header from Jaya Bains, as well as numerous more shot attempts as the game wore on. 

The Cougars didn't register a shot in the second half until Tamara Djurisic fired a long ground ball into the hands of a diving Madec in the 64th minute of the game, but that gave them serious momentum as Makoloski registered two more shots on net in the following seven minutes. Her second shot was a missile aimed at the top left corner of the net and made it past Madec, but Belcher saved her keeper's day and headed the ball away to keep it a tie game.
Shots continued to fly for both teams but the goalies remained perfect, and even when Filek couldn't stop Emma Olson's 84th minute shot, team captain Isabella Chirico came to the rescue and cleared the ball away. The final whistle sounded after just two minutes of stoppage time and the game ended in a 1-1 standoff as the sun finally began to shine on Mount Royal Field.

Szautner took home Cougars Player of the Game honours after proving to be an absolute stalwart on defense, stopping shot after shot and clogging every Cascade passing lane, as well as being a go-to playmaker from the back line. UFV Cascade Player of the Game honours went to Langston, whose offensive energy helped secure the team's first draw result of the season.

The Cougars look to end their two-game losing slide as they head to Vancouver to face the only undefeated team in Canada West this season, the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, on Oct. 4th at 6 P.M. on Canada West TV.