SYDNEY, NS – The UBC Thunderbirds won't repeat as U SPORTS Women's Soccer national champions after being edged 1-0 in overtime by the MacEwan Griffins in semifinal action Saturday afternoon from Sydney, N.S.
It was the second straight contest where the 'Birds found themselves in overtime in what was a back-and-forth battle between Canada West rivals that had met just two weeks previous with UBC coming out on top. The difference on the day was the Griffins receiving a clutch header from fifth-year forward Meagan Lemoine in the 96
th minute.
With the win MacEwan punched their ticket to the gold medal game on Sunday afternoon at the 2021 U SPORTS Championships while the 'Birds will play for bronze.
In the first overtime period Griffins senior midfielder Erin Van Dolder sent in a high lofting corner kick, Lemoine soared with UBC goalkeeper
Emily Moore and appeared to get her head on the ball; Moore looked to have snagged it first, but in the resulting collision the ball popped loosed and crossed the goal line for the eventual game winner.
The Griffins carried the lion's share of the play early in the match, garnering a prime scoring opportunity just three minutes in, but fifth-year forward Salma Karnel's shot off a free-kick rebound dribbled just wide of the right post behind Thunderbird fifth-year keeper
Emily Moore.
In the 17
th minute, off a corner kick from Lemoine, Karnel got her head and left foot on the ball, but the UBC defenders were able to clear the zone.
MacEwan collected the best chance of the first half to open the scoring, when fourth-year midfielder Raeghan McCarthy laced a left-footed volley, but Moore soared to deflect the bullet over the crossbar.
In the 40
th minute, UBC threatened but a header from junior midfielder
Janika Sangha – off a corner kick from sophomore forward
Vanessa Tome – went wide of the far post.
Off a run by Thunderbirds late in the opening half, junior midfielder
Sophie Damian ended up with a chance – just outside the 18-yard box – but her strike sailed wide.
On an early second-half free kick – in the 49
th minute – from the UBC end line, and just outside the 18-yard box, senior midfielder Erin Van Dolder curled in a cross, but the Thunderbird defense cleared the zone.
A short time later, freshman Grace Mwasalla made a run – flanked by a pair of UBC defenders – but Moore made the save on her shot from 20 yards out.
Moore then batted away a corner kick from Van Dolder, before any of her MacEwan teammates could get a shot on goal.
Continuing her strong performance in the second half, Mwasalla made a great run down the wing, with her cross deflected out of bounds, which led to a corner kick for her teammate Van Dolder. But, once again, the Griffins could not get on the scoresheet.
On the second of back-to-back corner kicks for UBC, Damian curled in a lovely ball, but MacEwan's sophomore keeper Breanna Truscott punched it away, bounded forward and then soared to corral it, showing her athleticism to help keep it scoreless.
In the final five minutes of regulation, off a great run from Karnel, the Griffins received another corner-kick chance; on that play, Mwasalla got her foot on the ball, but Moore made another save.
On a late free kick – from about 25 yards out, in the center of the field – sophomore midfielder
Katalin Tolnai peppered a strike towards the inside of the right goal post, but Truscott dove to make the stop.
UBC's best opportunity to score the equalizer in extra time came late, when freshman midfielder
Aislin Phillips got a sliding shot away, while fending off a MacEwan defender, but Truscott made a sprawling stop.
The Griffins will face the Trinity Western Spartans or Laval Rouge et Or in the gold medal match on Sunday, Nov. 21, at 2 p.m. AST, while the Thunderbirds will kick off against the Trinity Western Spartans or Laval Rouge et Or, at 11 a.m., in the bronze medal match.
Schedule & Results
CBC SPORTS and CBC Gem Streaming
NIKE performers of the game
MacEwan: Grace Mwasalla
UBC:
Jacqueline Tyrer
Summary
MacEwan – 0-0-1-0-1
UBC – 0-0-0-0-0
First half
No scoring
Second Half
No scoring
Extra time
GMU: Meagan Lemoine 96' GMU-1 – UBC-0
Digital coverage can be accessed on
cbcsport.ca the free
CBC Gem streaming service and the CBC Sports app, while French-language broadcasts are available at
https://video.isilive.ca/play/usports/w-soccer-french
