TORONTO – The UOIT women's soccer team wasted a golden opportunity on Wednesday night to solidify their playoff positioning as they dropped a 1-0 decision to the Toronto Varsity Blues.
 
With the loss, UOIT (8-4-2) is in a tie for second place in the OUA eastern conference with the Laurentian Voyageurs (8-4-2). With Laurentian winning the season series 2-0, the Ridgebacks are not in control of their playoff destiny with only two games remaining in the regular season.
 
UOIT also has to watch out for the Varsity Blues (8-6-1) and Queen's Gaels (6-2-6) who are only trailing by one and two points respectively.
 
Wednesday's match looked like it was heading towards a scoreless draw until the 83rd minute when Brenda Murillo beat defender Rachel Matthews (Ajax, Ont.) in the corner and fired a pass inside the box. Toronto's Natasha Klasios was in great position and booted a one-time past goalkeeper Helen Frampton (Toronto, Ont.) for the game-winning goal.
 
This was only the fifth goal UOIT has allowed this season and first against an opponent other than Ottawa or Laurentian.
 
Shynice Williams (Mississauga, Ont.) had the Ridgebacks best chance of the night midway through the second half but her attempt went just wide of the net. Williams was set up by Sarah Harvey (Bowmanville, Ont.) who was making her Ridgeback debut.
 
UOIT had nine shots on the night, only one of which was on target. It was stopped by Sara Petrucci who recorded her third cleansheet of the season.
 
The Ridgebacks will close out their regular season this weekend against the Carleton Ravens (Saturday in Scarborough) and Ottawa Gee Gees (Sunday at the Civic).
 
QUICK LOOK AT THE RIDGEBACKS
Overall Record: 10-4-3
Conference Record: 8-4-2
 
Next Game: Saturday, Oct. 24 vs. Carleton (1 p.m. in Scarborough)