KELOWNA – The UBC Thunderbirds (4-0) concluded their first road weekend of the campaign with a win, as they took all three points from the UBC Okanagan Heat (0-1-1).
While they scored a couple of sweet goals from the boots of
Sienna Gibson and
Jayda Thompson, the biggest highlight of the game was the overall defensive performance from the blue and gold. Constantly disrupting potential attacks all over the pitch, the Thunderbirds held the Heat without a shot for the entire first half and only one for the game overall.
The T-Birds notched 20 shots themselves, eight of them on target, but faced a strong goalkeeper in Talia Gagnon who made a number of good saves.
While the home team held the defending champs at bay for the first 20 or so minutes, UBC showed their quick-strike ability midway through the opening half. Mere seconds after a throw in from their own side of midfield, Thompson received the ball on the wing and proceeded to cut inside and drive right down the middle of the park, before sliding a pass through to Gibson who with one touch placed the ball into the bottom corner.
Gibson then nearly set up
Hannah Bains in first half stoppage time with a cutback across the penalty area, but Gagnon came up with the save before a Heat defender blocked a goal-bound shot from
Ava Alexander soon after to keep the deficit to just one goal at the break.
The second half didn't feature quite as many chances – although Gagnon did come up with a stop on a Bains breakaway – and the scoreline remained static until the 83rd minute when Thompson provided the spark again.
This time, after beating her defender on the right side of the penalty box, she drove to the near post. With the defence seemingly expecting her to try and find a teammate, the dynamic winger took her opponents by surprise by instead blasting the ball into the roof of the net, leaving Gagnon with no chance to stop it.
When the final whistle blew, the Thunderbirds could enjoy their fourth consecutive clean sheet to begin the season, a strong continuation from their elite defensive record last year. Next up is a trip to Prince George to play a two-game series against UNBC on Friday, September 5th, and Sunday, September 7th.
