LANGLEY, B.C. - The No. 9 University of British Columbia's (8-2-4) Janine Frazao scored the lone goal in the third minute to propel the Thunderbirds to a 1-0 victory over the No. 4 University of Victoria Vikes (9-2-3) Friday afternoon at the Canada West Final Four at Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C. The win sends the Thunderbirds to the Canada West gold medal match and earns them an automatic berth at next week's CIS championships in Toronto.

In a match between two of the top defensive teams in the CIS, it was not surprising that the final would be a one goal margin. The early goal put the Vikes in a difficult situation as they had to come from behind without their leading goal scorer and Canada West Player of the Year Kendra Flock, who was in Florida training with Canada's senior women's national team.

The lone goal came when UBC forward Rachael Sawer found Frazao in the centre of the Vikes penalty area. Frazao controlled the ball turned to her right and sent a high shot over Victoria's Stephanie Parker, off the cross bar and down into the centre of the Vikes net.

For the majority of the half it was UBC's match as they controlled possession, out shooting Victoria 7-3, and were unlucky not to have put more on the board.

Trailing 1-0 at the half the Vikes came out much stronger after the break. Victoria had the ball in the UBC end for considerable stretches and had a number of dangerous opportunities but were unable to equalize.

UBC's Jaclyn Dunnett made four saves to earn the shutout, her ninth clean sheet in the last 10 games, while Parker made five saves in the loss.

The Thunderbirds ended the match with a 14-7 edge in shots and a 10-5 edge in corner kicks. During the season UBC had a 1-0-1 advantage in their two matches with Victoria, tying 0-0 on Oct. 10 at UBC and winning 1-0 on Oct. 31 in Victoria.

UBC returns to the CIS championship after missing last year's tournament. The Thunderbirds last Canada West title was in 2007 and their last CIS title was in 2006.

UBC plays the winner of the other semifinal between Trinity Western and Alberta in tomorrow's gold medal match at 6 p.m., while Victoria plays the loser at 3 p.m. at Langley's MAP field.