KELOWNA, B.C. – It was a successful Canada West debut for the preseason No. 1 ranked team in U SPORTS, as the UBC Thunderbirds (1-0) defeated the UBCO Heat (0-1) on Friday evening in the Okanagan.
The Thunderbirds earned a clean sheet in goalkeeper Marilena Spagnolo's UBC debut, out-shooting the Heat 22-8 overall. Allyson Ford was quite busy in the hosts' net, making 12 saves, but was unable to keep the defending conference champs at bay entirely.
The victory makes it 35 straight Canada West wins across the regular season and playoffs for the T-Birds, dating back to the 2023 Canada West Final.
The blue and gold peppered Ford's goal in the early going, registering six shots on target in the first 22 minutes. While none of them found the back of the net, the T-Birds didn't have to wait too much longer before the breakthrough as fifth-year winger Jayda Thompson found the back of the net just before the half hour mark.
While they were forced to wait until midway through the second half before getting a little more breathing room, the Thunderbirds received a golden opportunity in the form of a penalty kick in the 68th minute. Up stepped Bailey Doerksen, playing in her first U SPORTS game in 663 days, and the Langley native made no mistake as she put her name on the scoresheet.
UBC played lockdown defence from there, only allowing one shot attempt from the Heat after Doerksen's goal, and added an insurance marker via Hannah Bains with a little under 15 minutes left on the clock.
In all, it was certainly a successful season opener for the T-Birds, and one that saw the Canada West debuts for five players: veteran newcomers Spagnolo and Nina Rhode, as well as first-years Shaden Al-Asad, Felicia Hanisch and Mia Sieminski. Spagnolo, Rhode and Al-Asad were all named to the starting XI as well, showing a fresh look for a very deep Thunderbirds program.
They'll need to rely on some of that depth right away, as the 'Birds immediately head from Kelowna to Langley to take on their rivals the Trinity Western Spartans on Saturday night. Kickoff for that matchup is set for 5:00 p.m. (PT), as UBC aims for a 2-0 start to the year.
