HALIFAX – The #8 seed Dalhousie Tigers did their best to fend off the T-Birds, but four second half goals were more than the tournament hosts could handle, as the UBC Thunderbirds marched into the medal rounds at the U SPORTS Women's Soccer Championship.
Seven different players got their name on the scoresheet in a very well-rounded offensive display from the Thunderbirds, who completed step one of three in their bid to repeat as national champs.
The Tigers, playing in front of their home fans, had the first chance of the game off a corner kick in the 7th minute. While the ball found the head of a Dalhousie attacker, the shot went straight into the arms of
Dakota Beckett. That was one of only two saves that Beckett had to make on the night, as the T-Birds began to turn the screws from that point on.
The Canada West champions thought they had a goal from
Jade Taylor-Ryan in the 10th, but after she put a bouncing ball into the net following a free kick, the referee ruled that there was a UBC foul committed seconds earlier.
UBC again caused some more defensive panic from a set piece later on in the half, when a well-placed ball from
Taiya Dennehy was headed towards goal by
Josie Claypool. Sadly, the veteran midfielder was denied her first goal of the season by the crossbar, and the two teams went into the halftime break level.
That didn't last for too much longer though, as the Thunderbirds finally broke through in the 63rd minute. After
Bailey Doerksen picked the ball up along the endline, she played it back to the edge of the box to
Sienna Gibson. The rookie then unleashed a fantastic strike that curled past the goalkeeper and into the side netting.
The floodgates opened from there, as just six minutes later
Nisa Reehal drove down the right and played a low cross into the middle right onto the foot of Taylor-Ryan. The clinical forward made no mistake, and scored her 14th goal in the last 10 games.
The lead grew to 3-0 in the 75th, when Gibson flicked a ball from
Sophia Ferreira in behind the defence, where
Jayda Thompson ghosted in to slot it home. Ferreira then made it four goals in less than 20 minutes, as a fullback-to-fullback cross from
Olivia Gomez found the veteran open at the back post. Ferreira took a touch and calmly placed the ball between the keeper's legs to put the game beyond any doubt.
With the win, the Thunderbirds are guaranteed to play for a medal. Whether that's gold or bronze will be decided in their semi-final matchup tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. (PT).
