HAMILTON, Ont. – The UBC Thunderbirds survived a bit of a scare needing extra time to get past the Guelph Gryphons, 2-1, in Thursday's U SPORTS quarter-final at Hamilton's Ron Joyce Stadium.
The OUA runners-up tied the game in the 85
th minute on an Olivia Brown penalty kick, eventually forcing the game beyond 90 minutes.
Late in the first 15 minute extra time half,
Sienna Gibson kept the ball low with her left foot to place it inside the far post for the eventual game winner as the Thunderbirds will now face the Laval Rouge et Or in Friday's semifinal, a rematch of last year's gold medal match.
"We had to work really hard and it's what's expected at these tournaments," said UBC head coach,
Jesse Symons, following his team's ninth straight victory at a national championship tournament. "All the games will probably be a goal difference, we saw that with Cape Breton and Laval earlier so overall, I'm super proud of the team performance and the ability to get the job done, but we expect that every game we play at this event."
"I'm super proud of the team to keep their resilience after maybe the scoring boots weren't quite there throughout the game. Guelph found a goal off a penalty that was tough in the moment, but we kept going and the mindset of the team was that we weren't going to lose today and it showed as the game progressed."
Following a scoreless opening half,
Holly Whelan broke the ice in the 55
th minute with the first U SPORTS championship goal of her career. Gibson settled the ball and played it forward for Whelan at the top of the penalty area where she spun and launched a beautiful left-footed strike.
UBC was called for a hand ball in the area and Brown scored the critical tying goal on the ensuing penalty for the Gryphons.
But the two-time defending champion T-Birds weren't rattled, expecting they'd be able to pull through and pull through they did when Gibson scored her 10
th goal this year for the blue and gold and certainly her biggest.
The T-Birds' victory sets up an enticing rematch with the Rouge et Or, their last meeting coming nearly one year ago to the day when UBC won their second consecutive championship with a 1-0 victory.
"Definitely a team that's probably going to be hungry to beat us but for me, we're going to have our front foot going," said Symons. "They have some very talented players all over the field. Both teams will be a bit tired but hopefully our depth will shine through tomorrow."
Laval advanced to the semifinals with a 2-1 victory over Cape Breton, the game winner coming in stoppage time.
Kickoff at McMaster University with a berth in Sunday's championship final on the line is set for 5:00 p.m. ET/2:00 p.m. PT. The game will be available live on
CBC Gem,
cbcsports.ca and
CBC Sports' YouTube channel.
