VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds came back from a two-goal deficit but ultimately fell 3-2 at home to the Western Washington Vikings Thursday afternoon at the Rashpal Dhillon Oval in Vancouver.
 
UBC women's soccer head coach Jesse Symons said his team gave a good performance in the exhibition match.
 
"We played a lot of players today, moved a lot of them around as well so overall, a good pre-season match to evaluate players and structure," he said. "I think the results in these games, we want to win them, but on the flip side, we're also looking for a few pictures and we were able to see some of those today, which were good. There was some learning for some of our young players, in terms of how to defend, when to go forward, things like that were good for them to absorb as we head into conference play."
 
Thursday marked the first home contest of the 2018 campaign for UBC, which was playing its fourth game in a week after returning from a season-opening Oregon road trip with a 2-1 record against three NCAA Division I programs.
 
Zoe Milburn scored the game-winning goal in the 79th minute for WWU, ranked fifth in the NCAA Division II pre-season poll. She corralled a free kick into the penalty area and chipped the ball inside the left post for the lead.
 

UBC women's soccer 2018: 'Birds tackle challenging early slate of NCAA foes in search of the new identity! https://t.co/DwXhFj5kZU @ubctbirds @ubcwsoc @bcsoccerweb @BCSoccerRumours @WFCElite pic.twitter.com/YlTMSBLyyW

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After going down 2-0, the Thunderbirds scored once on either side of halftime to level the match.
 
Amelia Crawford took a pass in the middle of the field just outside the 18-yard box, and then turned to send the ball left to Margaret Hadley inside the penalty area. Hadley dribbled in and slotted the ball inside the right post to get the Thunderbirds on the scoreboard in the 37th minute.
 
Danielle Steer tied the match with a spectacular marker in the 54th minute. She took a bouncing ball down the right side and hit a low half volley across the face of goal, slotting the ball into the right side of the net past WWU 'keeper Alyssa Treptow.
 
The visiting Vikings started the game well, scoring twice in just over a minute. Jordyn Bartelson scored from outside the 18-yard box in the 18th before teammate Gabriela Pelogi fired a shot to the upper left corner of the net from inside the penalty area in the 19th.
 
The next outing for the Thunderbirds will come on Wednesday at 10 a.m., as UBC will face Simon Fraser at Terry Fox Field in Burnaby, B.C.