VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds begin their quest for a seventh U SPORTS Women's Soccer Championship with a quarterfinal matchup against the Montreal Carabins on Thursday, November 7, at 1:00 p.m. PT in Victoria. UBC is the most decorated program in U SPORTS history with six national titles - their most recent championship coming at home in 2015. This season, the 'Birds defeated the two-time defending Canada West champion Trinity Western Spartans to secure their first berth at nationals since 2016 and are aiming to bring another banner home to the Point Grey campus.
Last Action
After a 1-0 victory over Lethbridge in the Canada West play-in round, the T-Birds took down the Saskatchewan Huskies 4-0 to reach the Canada West Final Four in Edmonton, Alberta. UBC upset the Spartans 1-0 on a second-half Nisa Reehal goal assisted by Tess McRae to reach the conference final, but fell to the Calgary Dinos 1-0 to claim Canada West silver.
Montreal finished second in the RESQ regular season before edging the Laval Rouge et Or 1-0 to reach their 13th straight conference final. The Carabins went on to beat the top-seeded UQAM Citadins 2-1 to take RESQ championship thanks to goals from Mégane Sauvé and Marie-Ève Bernard O'Breham.
Players to Watch
Emily Moore (#1, GK) – the veteran keeper has allowed just one goal against and made 24 saves in four playoff games this season. Moore started all 18 games to date for the 'Birds and finished second in the Canada West with an .864 save percentage. UBC tied for first in the conference with eight shutouts in the regular season, and added three more so far in the playoffs.
Alyssa Hunt (#4, F) – the fourth-year forward led the T-Birds with six goals and eight points on the regular season while scoring three game-winning goals for UBC. Hunt totaled seven shots through the Canada West playoffs and will be hungry to contribute at nationals.
Coach's Take
T-Bird head coach Jesse Symons is looking forward to the opportunity to play for a national title once again.
"We pride ourselves on being a team that is able to compete for championships each season," said Symons. "We take great pride in the privilege to get to this part of the season and are really excited to get to compete against the other conferences top teams. We've had a good week of training after the Canada West final and are really pushing hard to be prepared to come out strong against Montreal."
Symons expects to be tested right away by a proven Carabins side.
"Montreal is a perennial winner. They have very dynamic, mature players that like to get forward and attack with pace. Overall we will need to be ready defensively to continue to play go we have done all season to make it to difficult to be attacked against."
