They left it until quite late, but the UBC Thunderbirds pulled out a dramatic 1-0 extra time victory over the Cape Breton Capers in the U SPORTS semi-finals.
Bailey Doerksen was the hero, slotting home the lone goal in the 116th minute.
Cape Breton goalkeeper Ella Lancaster put on a heroic performance for the AUS champs, making 15 saves on the night including a couple of stone-cold robberies on UBC attackers. The T-Birds outshot the Capers 26-9 overall, carrying the play for the vast majority of the game.
"That was no doubt one of our best performances in a long time," said UBC head coach and the newly minted U SPORTS head coach of the year,Â
Jesse Symons following the match. "We had to just keep going and what a way to move onto the national final. The team is in amazing spirits and really showcased their drive and determination to push through to the end."
UBC got the chances rolling early, with
Nisa Reehal giving Lancaster her first test in the 12th minute following some shifty dribbling that set up a shot just inside the box.
Jayda Thompson rifled a shot inches wide of the far post in the 23rd, giving the Capers another warning shot.
Defender
Sarah Rollins had two chances to break the deadlock off corner kicks as the half wore on, but both times her attempts were fought off by the Capers' keeper. The two teams entered the break still knotted at 0-0, despite UBC outshooting their opponents 10-2 through the first 45 minutes.
After a bit of a slower start to the second half,
Jade Taylor-Ryan suddenly broke free on a breakaway on the 63rd. But while the T-Birds forward entered the night on red hot form, Lancaster pulled off a stunning save to stop her, followed by a Cape Breton defender blocking an attempt on the open goal by
Holly Whelan off the rebound.
The Capers' luck continued in the 74th minute, when Reehal unleased a strike following a corner that was cleared off the line by a defender. The Thunderbirds had one more glorious chance to win the game in the final minute of regulation when Thompson was played through on a breakaway, but Lancaster again made the stop, her 11th on the night to that point.
It was the AUS side who had the first chance of extra time with just their third shot on target, but
Dakota Beckett vacuumed it up with a straightforward save. From then on the T-Birds consistently remained on the front foot, with the Capers doing all they could to try and force a penalty shootout.
However, a shootout was not in the cards in this one, as UBC finally broke through with less than five minutes to play. After
Bailey Doerksen made a nice move inside the box to open a shooting lane, her attempt was parried away by Lancaster. The ball bounced to Reehal, whose one-time effort was again stopped, but a second rebound found its way to Doerksen who bundled it home for the winner.
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The victory sets up a potentially historic gold medal game on Sunday. Now 19-0, the Thunderbirds are one win away from both capturing their second straight national championship and capping off a perfect season. They will face either Ottawa or Laval in the final, with that game beginning at noon (PT).
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