VICTORIA – The defending U SPORTS national champion UBC Thunderbirds women's soccer team opened their 2024 Canada West campaign with a convincing 5-0 victory the Victoria Vikes Friday evening at Centenial Stadium.
 
The T-Birds scored early and often in jumping out to a commanding 3-0 first half lead against their Pacific Division rivals and is started with second year midfielder Bailey Doerkson dampening the charged-up home crowds' spirit just two minutes into the match.
 
Waisting no time in getting on the board it was Sophie Ferreira who sent a pass through to a surging Doerkson at the top of the box who then connected to put the ball in the opposite corner behind Vikes goalkeeper Kayley Lidstone to claim a 1-0 lead.
 
The Vikes found themselves an equalizing opportunity in the 11th minute, with Adrianna Hilton swiping the ball back from Taya Dennehy in the midfield. Driving towards the goal, a quick pass to and immediate shot from Raina Hagel was met by Dakota Beckett's first save of the night to keep the T-Birds in front.
 
In the 28th minute, Jayda Thompson sparked another scoring chance for UBC, driving to the top of the box. Sending a quick pass to Jade Taylor-Ryan, Taylor-Ryan made it to the top of the six-yard box before sending the ball to nearby Doerksen, who scored her second goal of the night and put the Thunderbirds up, 2-0.


 
10 minutes later, UBC added to their lead, courtesy of Taya Dennehy. While the Vikes attempted to clear the ball out of their end, Dennehy intercepted, creating space for herself and firing off a shot from 20 yards out to the top of the net. Soaring over the hand of Vikes' goalkeeper Lidstone, the Thunderbirds took a 3-0 advantage in the 37th minute.
 
Thompson nearly added to UBC's lead in the 44th minute, breaking away and taking Lidstone one-on-one. However, Lidstone made the save to send the game into halftime with the T-Birds on top, 3-0.
 
Though the Vikes saw two-straight chances to put a goal on the board to open the second half, it was UBC who would ultimately find the back of the net, as Thompson connected on a pass from Nisa Reehal for the 4-0 Thunderbirds lead in the 64th minute.
 
As the clock hit 90 minutes, UBC added one more to their total, capitalizing on a corner kick by Dennehy which was headed home by Mary Nicholls to seal the shutout win for the Thunderbirds, 5-0.
 
Beckett earned the clean sheet for the UBC, notching three saves in the win.
 
UBC looks to improve to 2-0 on the young season as they now head across the Rockies to meet Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alta on Sunday, September 8^th with a noon pacific time kickoff.