VICTORIA – The Thunderbirds came so close to a magical weekend in Victoria, but in the end the Vikes came away with the result they needed to retain the Canada West Championship.
 
Staring in the face of their second must-win game in as many days, and third in a row to end the Canada West season, things started brightly for UBC. Kaia Cooper – playing in her final career conference game for the T-Birds – broke the deadlock in the 12th minute as she blasted one past Anais Chace in the UVic goal to put her team in front.

The Vikes looked to answer back with Macy Hogg breaking through T-Bird defenders, but her attempt turned aside by Robyn Goh. That concluded the first quarter as the Thunderbirds held a 1-0 lead.


 
The second frame of action was played mostly in the neutral zone with neither team finding any real scoring chances. Both defensive units made entries into the final third difficult with timely clearances.
 
The second half did not remain the same way, as the T-Birds earned a penalty corner in the opening minutes of the third quarter. From that play, Kenzie Girgis fired a shot on goal that was saved by Chace, but the rebound fell kindly to Sydney Le who buried it for her third goal of the weekend.


 
The Vikes began to rally in the final quarter as back-to-back penalty corners led to their best offensive opportunities of the game. Both chances were denied by Thunderbirds' keeper Pascale Pottier as she made two diving saves to keep the Vikes scoreless, but that didn't last for too much longer.
 
The home team finally broke through in the 50th minute when Libby Hogg blasted a shot off of a penalty corner. The ball was redirected by Bronte Thurbide past the UBC goalie. The play narrowed the UBC lead to 2-1 with still some more time on the clock.
 
The Vikes were awarded another penalty corner in the dying minutes of the game. The ball was passed to Hogg who directed a shot towards net, which was initially saved but caused a scramble in front of the Thunderbirds' net. Through all the bodies in front, Amanda Adams was able to find the ball and stick it home for the decisive goal.
 
While the T-Birds won the bonus shootout, that was only a small consolation as they had needed a regulation win to bring home the Canada West banner. Mikayla Stelling, Girgis and Laurien Bruijning found the back of the net for UBC in the shootout.

After the game, Bruijning was named the Canada West Rookie of the Year and also a Canada West All-Star. Joining her on the All-Star team are Girgis, Stelling and Thora Rae, following fantastic seasons for all of them.
 
 
SCORING SUMMARY
UBC – Kaia Cooper, FG, 12', 1-0 UBC
UBC – Sydney Le, PC, 32', 2-0 UBC
VIC – Bronte Thurbide, PC, 50', 2-1 UBC
VIC – Amanda Adams, PC, 58', 2-2
 
GOALKEEPERS
VIC – Anais Chace, 60M, 2GA
UBC – Robyn Goh, 30M, 0GA
UBC – Pascale Pottier, 30M, 2GA
 
CARDS
UBC – Hazel Taylor, GC, 5'
UBC – Prabnoor Hundal, GC, 48'
VIC – Macy Hogg, GC, 54'
UBC – Kenzie Girgis, GC, 55'
UBC – Wynn Brown, YC, 57'

SHOOTOUT
Rd 1: Neeve Unger No Goal, Mikayla Stelling Goal – 1-0 UBC
Rd 2: Brooke Taylor No Goal, Prabnoor Hundal No Goal – 1-0 UBC
Rd 3: Jaden Dawson No Goal, Kenzie Girgis Goal – 2-0 UBC
Rd 4: Molly Harris Goal, Laurien Bruijning Goal – 3-1 UBC