VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds will compete for Canada West gold after a 2-0 win over the MacEwan Griffins in Friday night's conference semifinal in Langley.

Tess McRae broke a scoreless tie in the 87^th minute and Danielle Steer added some insurance in stoppage time as the T-Birds have also punched their ticket to the U SPORTS National Championship where they can get the opportunity to defend their 2019 title.

"It was an interesting first half, we tried to control it, but MacEwan is a good team," said UBC Head Coach Jesse Symons. "They made our team think as we had to find different ways to defend. Full credit to them (MacEwan), I thought they played really well."



Both MacEwan (11-3-0) and UBC (11-1-2) got off to a heated start. The match became physical very quickly, relying on counter-attacking soccer and midfield battles throughout the beginning of the first half. 

With both teams getting chances to begin the game, the Thunderbirds started to slowly creep into MacEwan's defensive third of the pitch. 

UBC gradually settled in to finish off the first half in control of the game. The Thunderbirds passed the ball efficiently, but they struggled to break into the opposing box as MacEwan defended well under pressure. 

MacEwan's second-year goalkeeper Breanna Truscott was a major difference maker for the Griffins. With UBC's attackers threatening throughout the latter end of the first half, Truscott made massive saves to keep the match deadlocked at 0-0. 



As Truscott had started well in the first half, UBC keeper Emily Moore followed suit once the Griffins heated up. MacEwan's tone was set by the forward duo of Meagan Lemoine and Grace Mwasalla, creating chances off the counter. In response to MacEwan's newfound fire, UBC started to fight back with their own counters, keeping the pace of play incredibly quick.  

The second half saw both sides dominate in 10-minute segments. With the teams trading blows, the game became exciting quickly with no goals to show for all of the quality chances created by both sides.  

UBC finally sealed the deal in the 87th minute when McRae got on the end of a rebound. With nothing but net to shoot at, McRae neatly tucked it home as UBC's crowd erupted in excitement. 

Fantastic 2-0 win for @ubcwsoc against MacEwan in their @CanadaWest semi-final. Tess McRae in 87th minute and Danielle Steer in stoppage time. UBC face Trinity Western in tomorrow's final and book a berth at the U Sports nationals in Nova Scotia in two weeks to defend their title

— AFTN (@aftncanada) November 6, 2021

The Thunderbirds dropped everyone back after the late goal, forcing the opposing Griffins to put all their efforts into tying the game in its final minutes. MacEwan's effort wasn't enough, as Steer picked off a pass to beautifully curl it around Truscott. 

"We fortunately have a lot of talent going forward," added Symons. "To see our captain (McCrae) bomb into the box is why she's our captain, and then Steer finished if off. She had a fantastic game up front, moving everywhere and getting on the ball. Overall a very well-played match by us." 

After their victory, UBC will battle the Trinity Western Spartans on Saturday for the 2021 Canada West Gold Medal Match. 

Kickoff at Chase Office Field is 7:30 p.m. PT and the game will be streamed live on Canada West TV.