VANCOUVER – The fans at Thunderbird Stadium were treated to a heart-in-mouth finish in the U SPORTS semifinals, as UBC and Queen's battled it out to the final seconds in a physical, dramatic matchup.
Like their quarterfinal against Laval, the T-Birds took the lead early and didn't relinquish it the rest of the way. But unlike Wednesday night, the match hung in the balance all the way to the end, with the Thunderbirds putting up a desperate defensive stand on their own goal line in the final play of the night to preserve a six-point win.
"What a game, what a game," said a relieved
Dean Murten, UBC head coach. "I don't know what my heart rate was at in the last couple of minutes there. We played some really good stuff at times…but Queen's are very, very good. They're very physical, they got back into the game, and we sneaked a win there at the end."
UBC showed their power early on, taking the ball on a lineout and locking arms to drive forward as a unit deep into Queen's territory. After multiple minutes of continuous pressure, the T-Birds earned a penalty kick which
Brooklyn Roddham sent through the uprights from 22 yards out.
The Thunderbirds did a fantastic job of pinning Queen's in their own half in the early going, not letting them get any sustained momentum going forward. Their hard work thoroughly paid off when
Olivia Sarabura broke through the Gaels' defensive line and powered her way to the try zone.
The T-Birds had the chance to put some more points on the board on a couple of plays in quick succession but were unable to. First, Roddham missed a second penalty kick attempt in the 22nd. Not too long after that
Lana Dueck attempted to kick the ball into the try zone in order to run onto it herself, but a Queen's defender got to it first.
The Gaels then got themselves on the board and right back into the match with a try in the 27th, capitalizing on a dropped pass by the T-Birds. Mika Matsukubo was the grateful recipient, as she scooped up the ball deep in UBC territory and ran the distance untouched for the easy score.
The T-Birds put the pressure back on at the end of the half, and came close to scoring another try, but were stuffed by a stout Gaels defence. UBC did earn another penalty kick, this one from 38 yards out, and Roddham delivered to put her team up 13-7 heading into halftime.
Just like the first half, the second began with UBC points, this time in the form of a
Charity Williams try as the winger danced her way through a series of defenders for the score. The Gaels tried to hit right back, and got the ball all the way down to the UBC goal line but they were held up in a great defensive stand by the hosts.
Queen's did manage to punch it in on their next series down, with Gibson securing the try and the convert to make it a one-score lead once again.
Neither team wanted to give up an inch of ground as the match got closer to the final minutes, with the ball held up consistently around the midfield area no matter who had it. Finally, as the clock ticked over the 70-minute mark, it appeared that the Gaels might be the team to steal the win at the end.
The OUA champs had a strong period of offensive pressure in the final series, working the ball all the way down to the UBC goal line. With the Gaels desperate to get the ball over the line, and the T-Birds just as desperate to stop them, the tension was finally released when Queen's was called for an infraction, giving the ball to the T-Birds who kicked it out of bounds from within their own try zone as the final whistle blew.
The Thunderbirds have certainly gone through a gauntlet to get through to the final, defeating No. 3 Laval and No. 2 Queen's, both of whom were undefeated before the T-Birds took them down. It doesn't get any easier, however, as the team waiting to fight them for the championship is the No. 1 seed, the Victoria Vikes.
The Vikes have cruised to the final, taking down No. 8 Ottawa 41-8 in the opening round and No. 5 Guelph 42-0 in the semis. They're 9-0 overall, with three of those wins coming against UBC, including one in the Canada West Final two weeks ago.
Despite the quality of their upcoming opponent, how this week has gone can only serve to grow the T-Birds' collective belief, after taking down two conference champions already. Now just one win away from their second straight U SPORTS title, everything is on the line inside Thunderbird Stadium at 4:00 p.m. (PT) on Sunday.
SCORING SUMMARY
1 2 F
QUE 7 7 14
UBC 13 7 20
7' – UBC penalty kick (
Brooklyn Roddham) 3-0 UBC
17' – UBC try –
Olivia Sarabura (Roddham convert) 10-0 UBC
27' – Queen's try - Mika Matsukubo (Lizzie Gibson convert) 10-7 UBC
35' – UBC penalty kick (Roddham) 13-7 UBC
HALF
38' – UBC try –
Charity Williams (Roddham convert) 20-7 UBC
46' – Queen's try – Lizzie Gibson (Gibson convert) 20-14 UBC
