VANCOUVER – Looking to defend their crown as conference champions, the UBC Thunderbirds will have the chance to do so at home in the Canada West Final Four.
Fittingly, the T-Birds will play host to the teams with the second, third and fourth-best records in the regular season, as the higher-seeded team won each matchup in the quarter-final round. It wasn't easy though, as every first-round game was decided by just a single goal, including UBC's 1-0 win over the Saskatchewan Huskies last Saturday.
After taking down the No. 4 seed from the Prairie Division, next up is No. 2, as the Mount Royal Cougars (10-3-1) come to town for the first-ever playoff meeting between the two sides. The Cougars fell behind 1-0 to UBC Okanagan in their quarter-final, but staged a comeback with a pair of late goals to earn their first home playoff win in program history.
They'll be aiming to make some more history on Thursday, October 30, when MRU and UBC kick-off their semifinal at 3:30 p.m. (PT) on Ken Woods Field. The Cougars have never made it to the Canada West Final, meanwhile the T-Birds are hoping to make it back to the championship game for the sixth season in a row.
"MRU has had a great season and like all the teams had a tight quarter-final match," said UBC head coach
Jesse Symons. "They will be a team that tries to really attack and get forward, so we will need to manage them. They have been able to get points off every team in the prairies this season, so they will be a team that we will need to be really prepared for."
The Cougars boast one of the top goal scorers in the conference in Tamara Djurisic, who entered the playoffs tied with Thompson Rivers' Esi Lufo for top spot on the Canada West goals leaderboard (with nine). MRU goalkeeper Ella Filek boasts an .833 save percentage, fourth-best in the conference behind Calgary's Lauren Houghton (.909) and both of UBC's 'keepers,
Dakota Beckett and
Emma Sparrow (1.000).
The T-Birds have continued to have offensive contributions from all across the roster, shown perfectly by their lone goal scorer in their playoff opener being midfielder
Hannah Bains, who'd only scored one goal in her UBC career before finding the back of the net with the game-winner against the Huskies.
This Thursday's matchup with the Cougars is massive not only for being the conference semifinal, but the winner will also punch their ticket to the U SPORTS National Championship tournament, hosted this year by McMaster University in Hamilton.
"We really try and emphasize every game," added Symons, not wanting to look too far ahead. "Thursday is what we're focused on to be able to get to the final. The team is really excited to be at the Final Four and to continue to play together!"
Sitting on the other side of the bracket are the Calgary Dinos (11-1-2) and the Trinity Western Spartans (10-3-1). The Dinos nearly went unbeaten in the regular season but fell to the Cougars on the final day, still finishing atop the Prairie Division. They have scored the second-most goals and conceded the second-fewest in Canada West, only behind the T-Birds in both categories.
The Spartans are very familiar foes, as they have squared off against the T-Birds in each of the last five postseasons, including in three straight Canada West Finals from 2021 to 2023. That 2023 title game remains the last defeat suffered by UBC, a scoreless draw in regulation that ended in penalty shootout heartbreak.
Win or lose on Thursday, the T-Birds will play in a medal game on Friday, October 31. First is the bronze medal match at 12:30 p.m., followed by the battle for gold at 3:30 p.m. (PT), both again at Ken Woods Field.
