EDMONTON –
Aman Shergill scored a natural hat-trick in the second half to power the fourth-seeded UBC Thunderbirds to a 3-2 win over the No.3 seed Alberta Pandas in Canada West women's soccer divisional playoff action at Foote Field on Saturday.
Shergill, a fourth-year defender, was switched to striker following half-time, and the decision by first-year head coach
Jesse Symons paid immediate dividends as Shergill broke through the Pandas defense for goals in the 53rd, 55th and 69th minutes to lead the defending Canada West and national champion Thunderbirds to the come-from-behind win over the host Pandas.
"She is a special player. She's able to run past players, she has every tool in the kit to move past players and to shoot," said Symons about his scoring sensation. "She can penetrate, she's quick and powerful and she showed her qualities today in the second half."
The win propels UBC into the Canada West Select Six championship tournament, which will likely be hosted by the Trinity Western Spartans in Langley, B.C. The Spartans were the top team in Canada West women's soccer, finishing with an 11-0-3 record and 36 points. Should they defeat 4-9-1 UBC-Okanagan in divisional round action, the Spartans would host the conference championship tournament over the November 3-6 weekend.
Alberta, who finished ahead of UBC in the final conference standings, got first half goals from Aly Parth and Morgan Corbett, but couldn't find a game tying goal in the second half.
Parth delivered the game's first goal when she coolly slotted a shot from the penalty spot into the bottom left corner in the 19th minute.
She was behind Alberta' second goal as well, as it was her corner kick that Corbett headed past UBC goalie
Marlee Maracle in the 33rd minute for the 2-0 Alberta lead.
The Pandas held that lead for the remainder of the first half, and looked well on their way to a championship tournament berth as the first 45 minutes concluded with the home side in front by a pair of goals, while UBC mustered little in the way of offence.
That all changed in the second half as Shergill cut the deficit in half with a shot that bounced past Alberta goalie Jamie Misiaszek in the 53rd minute. The third-year goalie who originally hails from Guelph, Ontario, was named starter earlier in the week after Cassie Bazzarelli, who has been the starter for two seasons for Alberta, was injured during a training session. Misiaszek only saw 20 minutes of game time this season, and was making her first start of the year in the do or die game.
Shergill was at it again two minutes later when she intercepted Parth's pass inside the Alberta zone and beat Misiaszek from 25-yards out with a shot inside the right hand post.
She completed the hat-trick effort with a thunderous strike from 30-yards out that rocketed over Misiaszek's head in the 69th minute. It capped off a three-goal flurry within 15 minutes as UBC went from a 2-0 deficit to a 3-2 lead before the 70th minute.
"Jesse (Symons) pulled me aside at halftime and said 'I need more from you'. I took it straight to heart," said Shergill. "This is do or die time."
Although the Pandas generated six shots in the second half, including four on goal, they couldn't find the equalizer, and saw their season come to an end.
"We've proven all year that we're a team that never gives up. We can go down and still wins games. We've been doing that all year," said Symons. "Hopefully that's not the case going forward but if that's the case, we'll continue to fight and figure out a way to get it done in the end."
"I feel we have momentum now and we're rolling," added Shergill. "It's just good energy all around and I think we're good."
The Thunderbirds will now play for the conference championship trophy, as well as a berth into the 2016-17 CIS women's soccer championship, which will be hosted by Acadia University over the November 10-13 weekend.
