LANGLEY, British Columbia – The UBC Thunderbirds are moving on to the Canada West semifinals after earning a 2-0 win over Manitoba in the quarter-finals Thursday at Chase Office Field.
Jasmin Dhanda opened the scoring in the 15
th minute before
Rachel Jones buried an insurance marker in the 43
rd minute as UBC cruised to a convincing victory.
The T-Birds will now play MacEwan in the semifinals Saturday at 4 p.m. (PT) at Chase Office Field, with the winner earning both a spot in the conference final and a berth in the CIS national championship tournament. The game can be seen live at
www.canadawest.tv.
"We stuck to the game plan," said UBC coach
Jesse Symons. "We came out early and were able to get a goal. Credit to the players because they came out with a strong start and then I thought we controlled the game quite well for the rest of it. We didn't really allow Manitoba to get back in the game."
UBC was the better team from start to finish, outshooting Manitoba 31-1 and carrying the pace of play throughout. After the T-Birds outshot Manitoba 19-0 in the first half, the Bisons were marginally better in the possession game over the second 45 minutes, but were unrewarded and only garnered one shot on goal.
For the second game in a row, Bisons goalie Madison Wilford was the story of the game for Manitoba as she made 12 saves. Wilford also made 13 saves in the Bisons play-in upset win over Calgary last weekend.
After plenty of early first half possession, Dhanda opened the scoring for the T-Birds when she sliced through the box and slotted it past Wilford.
"I think in any game when a team is going to look to defend a bit, the longer the game goes scoreless, there's life that is put into the team and they have a belief," Symons said. "I think that goal early on allowed us to control the game and not get frustrated. Being one up, we kept the ball well and we're able to play our game."
UBC doubled its lead right before halftime on a wild scramble in the box that Jones eventually knocked into the net. The T-Birds goal scorer initially took a shot on goal, but her effort was deflected by Wilford before going off the cross bar and falling in the six-yard box. With the ball loose and a slew of players attempting to make a play, it was Jones who eventually found it again and buried it.
The Bisons only crack on goal came on an Amanda Wong free kick in the 66
th minute, but UBC goalie
Marlee Maracle was up to the task on the only shot she faced all game.
The T-Birds will now take on a Griffins side that they played to a 0-0 draw in their lone regular season meeting this year.
"Every team in this league is tough," Symons said. "Teams have grown and I think we need to give MacEwan full credit for being the top seed out of the Prairie Division and having that bye. But we'll be ready. We had a good game against them last time. They're a well-coached team with some good players, so hopefully we come out with the right attitude like we did today and go at them."
Game Notes: The T-Birds beat Manitoba 2-1 in their only contest of the regular season…UBC has now scored five goals in two playoffs games…the Bisons were outshot 58-7 in their two playoffs games, but only allowed three goals.
