HAMILTON, Ont. – The rematch of last year's U SPORTS National Championship final Friday night in Hamilton was itself worthy of a gold medal match. Trailing the Laval Rouge et Or 2-0 midway through the opening half, the UBC Thunderbirds put together a furious comeback scoring three unanswered goals,
Jayda Thompson's second of the game in the 86
th minute standing up as the winner.
Taking one of the most entertaining games anywhere this year by a 3-2 final, the T-Birds will now face the Montreal Carabins Sunday afternoon at Ron Joyce Stadium with the opportunity to win an unprecedented third consecutive U SPORTS banner.
"Wow. That was quite the game," said UBC head coach,
Jesse Symons, shortly after the epic semifinal battle. "Laval came out strong and then got a penalty, but what a character moment and resilience to score right after they scored that second. That woke us up to another level that I honestly hadn't seen our team play at. The first goal we scored was electric and you could just feel the second one coming. Fortunately for Jayda and Maddy back and forth on a bit in different positions because they can score goals and create, and that's what they did. Then we just shut the door and full credit to the team."
The Rouge et Or, fully intent on exacting revenge for their loss to UBC in last year's championship final, had a dream start Friday evening as Elsa Leonard broke the ice in the 12
th minute on a shot which deflected twice before squeaking past UBC goalkeeper
Dakota Beckett who had no real chance to save the re-directed ball yet nearly did just that.
Laval was awarded a penalty 20 minutes later and Lea-Jeanne Fortier made good from the spot to double UBC's deficit.
Down two goals having not trailed by even one all season long, the T-Birds were in unfamiliar territory but the doubt never crept in.
"That first goal really gave us some confidence and momentum and the second half we just started getting at them," Symons added. "They were holding on and we were trying to create and we were holding firm. Laval's a storied program, there's so much respect from our program, all the battles we've had with them. You just can't give enough to our team in terms of their character and mindset and that showed today."
The T-Birds breakthrough came shortly after the conceded penalty when Thompson fired a low shot from 10 yards out in the 34
th minute for her first of three points in the game.
It meant the two-time defending champions were down by just one heading into the second half in which momentum was on their side, and it showed.
UBC got the equalizer in the 77
th minute when
Maddy Norman finished on a cross-crease pass from Thompson on a 2-on-0.
Once again, Thompson managed to slip between a wide defensive gap using her trademark speed to take a volley pass from Norman and slip a left-footed low shot into the net for the clinching goal in the 86
th.
With not enough time left, the Rouge et Or also couldn't mount any further attacks as the T-Birds secured their spot in Sunday's final along with the Carabins who defeated the Trinity Western Spartans 4-0 in Saturday's late semifinal.
"It's the game we want to play in, it's the game we start the season looking at and understand this is where we want to get to as a program. "We're going to play a very good team on Sunday. Montreal has had a storied season for sure and are a team we played two years ago and it was an epic game. We're going to be really prepared, we'll give it our all on Sunday. We're excited, we have this belief we want to get after it game after game and showcase what we are as a program and I'm so proud we get that opportunity on Sunday."
Kickoff for the 2025 gold medal match is set for 5:00 p.m. ET/2:00 p.m. PT at McMaster's Ron Joyce Stadium. The game will be available live on
CBC Gem,
cbcsports.ca and CBC Sports' YouTube channel.
