VANCOUVER, B.C. – The UBC Thunderbirds won their second-straight Canada West women's soccer championship on a wet and windy Ken Woods Field on Friday afternoon.
Goals either side of halftime from
Sienna Gibson and
Maddy Norman gave UBC a 2-0 victory over the Trinity Western Spartans, in yet another closely-contested affair between the fierce Lower Mainland rivals, with TWU missing a crucial first half penalty as the balance of the game swung to UBC after that.
Both teams had already booked their berths at next week's U SPORTS nationals in Hamilton, but the No. 1 nationally ranked Thunderbirds secured the top seed for the tournament as they go for an unprecedented three-peat.
"We started really good, but Trinity have attacking weapons up top," a jubilant UBC head coach
Jesse Symons said after the match. "They had a couple of chances, and Dakota [Beckett] made a big save early and then them hitting the post on the penalty was a big moment. We came back and what a goal.
"To hold them in the second half, I personally feel that was the best second half we've played all season. It was great that Maddy [Norman] got in on a lucky bounce but she finished well and we sealed it out today."
Trinity Western took the game to the hosts and had their first chance just four minutes in, when
Dakota Beckett couldn't hold on to a Sophie Crowther shot but Kylie Hendricks put the rebound narrowly wide.
UBC came even closer to opening the scoring in the 16th minute, but
Sophie Harrison's fierce low strike crashed off the right post with Spartans keeper Yasmine Pahal beaten.
Pahal denied
Holly Whelan six minutes later, but Trinity Western turned up the pressure once again and Holland Stiel fired a Crowther cutback over from a good position as the half hour mark approached.
Stiel was causing problems for the UBC defence and she spun away from
Zoelle Apps in the box in the 34th minute, causing the Thunderbirds defender to bring her down and Trinity Western had a penalty.
Up stepped leading scorer Mansha Sidhu, but she fired her spot kick off the left post and the defending champions survived a scare.
UBC had been second-best in the half but they found the breakthrough in the dying seconds.
Ava Alexander streaked through on goal and Pahal was quickly off her line to deny the fifth-year senior. The loose ball fell to substitute
Ella Santarsieri, who cut it back for Gibson to rifle it home and give the Thunderbirds the lead.
It was such a crucial time to get the opener and the Thunderbirds came out on the front foot after the restart, getting a quick second when Norman was played in on goal and tucked it away past Pahal to give UBC a bit of a cushion.
Alexander came within inches of making it three as she just barely failed to get on a ball across the face of the goal, with Trinity Western being reduced to long range efforts in reply.
Luciano Andrews had a chance to pull one back in the closing stages for the Spartans but fired just wide, and there was no way back for a tiring Trinity Western as UBC saw out the game to lift another conference trophy.
The win capped off a stellar Canada West season for UBC, one which saw them concede only one goal. It's the 18th Canada West banner for the program and their third in the last four seasons.
Adding to their joy, Gibson was named the Championship Finals MVP.
Having gone back-to-back in their conference, with two perfect seasons, the Thunderbirds will now look to become the first school to win three straight national titles. They will head into next week's tournament in Hamilton riding an incredible 40-match win streak dating back to nationals in 2023.
