VANCOUVER - It took 68 minutes for the UBC Thunderbirds to break a scoreless deadlock on Sunday, but they managed to capitalize on a pair of late chances to pull off a 2-0 win over the Victoria Vikes to close out the regular season.
Canada West scoring champion
Victoria Pearson netted her eighth goal of the season with just two minutes left on the clock. Her drive from the top of the circle off a penalty corner took a deflection off a Vikes defender and squeezed inside the far post.
The Vikes then pulled goalkeeper Kaitlyn Williams in favour of an extra attacker, but Canada West Rookie of the Year
Natalie Sourisseau iced the game for UBC in the 69th minute when she flipped a backhand shot into the empty net.
With UBC clinching the Canada West title on Saturday and the Vikes already assured of the second CIS tournament berth, Sunday's match meant nothing for the conference standings. But the two Canada West rival powerhouses still had plenty of pride to play for, as the season series was up for grabs, as well as momentum heading into nationals.
"At the beginning I think both teams were a little bit tentative, but once they got going I think they were like 'lets have fun with this' and the game picked up speed," said UBC head coach Hash Kanjee. "There were a couple of hard knocks and battles, and it just got better and better as it went on."
Victoria's best chance of the game came midway through the first half, when Courtney Low found herself with the ball in space in the UBC circle. But T-Bird goalkeeper
Bea Francisco, who also earned some hardware as the Canada West Goalkeeper of the Year, charged out of her net and made a sliding kick save to knock the ball away from Low.
UBC's
Sarah MacAulay was the big winner of the day, despite not playing in the game, as she took home Canada West MVP honours for the year, and will be the conference's nominee for the CIS Player of the Year award.
"I'm really happy for Sarah," said Kanjee. "I think she was missed by the award selectors last year because she had an amazing year, so this is great. She didn't back away or feel sour grapes, she just came out this year and did what she does really well, and I'm really happy she was recognized for it."
The T-Birds finish the conference season with a 9-1-2 record, while the Vikes took second place at 6-4-2. The two squads will now prepare for the CIS national championships in Guelph, where the T-Birds will be looking to defend their title and add to their record 12 McCrae Cup wins.
The CIS tournament runs from November 4 to 7 at Guelph University in Ontario.
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