KINGSTON, Ont. – The UBC Thunderbirds are National Champions for an eighth time. Already the most successful women's soccer program in U SPORTS history, the T-Birds added to their trophy case and avenged a Canada West championship game loss by beating the Trinity Western Spartans 1-0 thanks to the last-minute heroics of U SPORTS Player of the Year Katalin Tolnai.

In their fourth meeting this season, the Spartans and Thunderbirds were deadlocked late into the second overtime period when Tolnai headed a cross from Jayda Thompson and snuck the ball through Trinity keeper Hannah Miller, just getting over the line, for what turned out to be a golden goal. After tying the Canada West regular season points record, Tolnai was the clear focus of the Spartan defence throughout the entire match, but still managed to break through in the biggest possible moment. Her 120^th minute goal handed the T-Birds their first U SPORTS banner since 2019, when she was in her first year.



On top of the game-winning assist, Thompson gave the Spartans fits whenever she was on the pitch, consistently creating problems with her speed and aggressiveness. She finished the match with two shots on target in two attempts.

Equally essential to the win was the composed play of T-Birds keeper Dakota Beckett, who did not allow a goal in any of the 'Birds three games at the U SPORTS Championships. She made 12 saves in this match, including three of her toughest in the second overtime period, all while looking absolutely unflappable in traffic or whenever she had to play the ball.



The T-Birds were the aggressors early on in the match, earning two corners in the first four minutes. Each led to a dangerous shot attempt that failed to find goal.

In the fifth minute, UBC did find the target after the ball bounced out to Taiya Dennehy in space, 25 yards from the Trinity net. She stepped into a low laser of a shot, destined for the bottom right corner. However, Spartans keeper Miller dove to her left and got a palm on the ball at full extension to keep the 'Birds off the board.

The Spartans found their legs soon after, as the two teams traded challenges, both with plenty of pace, but without troubling either keeper for the next 30 minutes
.
Thompson's speed was on full display as she made several explosive plays that surely made the Trinity faithful uncomfortable, but the second year forward never quite got the chance to test Miller in the first half.

The T-Birds next great opportunity came on a well-placed Dennehy corner. Miller leaped over a pile to punch the ball out, but it landed right on the foot of Sophia Ferreira. Her cracking, point blank attempt was blocked by a Spartans defender however, and the match remained tied into half-time.



Trinity Western's first great scoring opportunity came in the 50^th minute, when Charity Field took a pass, twisted her way into a group of four blue and gold defenders, fell, and was awarded a free kick 26 yard from the UBC goal. That kick hit the wall, but the Spartans had two other chances in the penalty area immediately after that were both blocked.

Soon after, the T-Birds went back on the attack. In the 59^th minute, Nisa Reehal made a great run down the right side, corralled the ball, kept her defender on her back hip and came in on goal just outside of the right post. As she was less than five yards out and her angle seemed to be disappearing, the fourth-year forward slid a quick, low shot between the legs of the Spartans keeper Miller. The ball crossed the entirety of the mouth of the goal, hit the inside of the left post, but somehow stayed out and allowed Trinity Western to clear away the most dangerous opportunity to that point in the match.

The post bailed out the Spartans yet again in the 70^th minute. Sophie Damian found herself with the ball in space at the top of the 18-yard box and hammered a low, curling shot at the bottom right corner, easily beating a sprawling Miller. The ball curled just a little too far however, clanking off of the iron, and the game remained tied.

The Spartans applied their share of pressure through the rest of regulation. 'Birds keeper Dakota Beckett was truly tested for the first time all match in second-half added time, falling on a hard shot from Maddie Melnychuk from just outside the top right corner of the 18-yard box to keep the game scoreless.

Fittingly, the match had to be decided in extra time.



The two teams traded chance on dangerous looking crosses early in the first overtime period. Then, in the 98^th minute, Jayda Thompson's blazing speed almost won the day for the T-Birds. She made a run out of nowhere, blew past the Spartans defenders and would have been in prime position to finish had Miller not made an aggressive, game-saving decision to come well out of her net and dive on the ball before the speedster could get her shot off.

In the second OT frame, the Spartans had a great chance in the 111th minute. Sophie Crowther made a strong individual effort, dribbling right across the top of the 'Birds' penalty area to find space, before turning and firing a hard shot that had a real chance, had it not hit her teammate in front of the goal. Two subsequent Trinity Western corners forced Beckett to make a pair of diving saves and she also punched a hard shot over the bar to keep her team alive.

The T-Birds took full advantage of that life, finally breaking more than five straight minutes of Spartans' pressure and racing down the field on a quick counter-attack. Deep in Spartans territory, Thompson found herself with the ball and being give a surprising amount of space by the Trinity defence, who were likely expecting another aggressive solo attack into the box from the young forward. Instead, Thompson took advantage of the extra room and made a perfect cross to the waiting Tolnai, who immediately headed the ball, getting just enough on it to sneak the shot through Miller and have it dribble into the net for the winner.



The National Championship is the second for head coach Jesse Symons, who was also named Canada West Coach of the Year. Seven Thunderbirds players won for the second time with UBC, most beginning and now capping their T-Birds careers in the best way imaginable.