Weekend Rundown: Men's soccer makes it to playoff

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Men’s soccer secure Canada West playoff spot

UBC men’s soccer finished off their regular season this past weekend with a record of 4-2-6 and a place in the playoffs after managing to secure a victory over the University of Victoria Vikes.

The league leaders proved to be a real challenge for the T-Birds during the first of their double header in their season finale. With the midfield clogged with Vikes players, UBC was quickly met with pressure, preventing the build-up of any promising opportunities.

Scoring opened in the sixth minute of play as Vikes’ header found its way into the back of the net. UBC goalkeeper Bennet Mckay is credited with stopping a handful of UVic attempts on target during the eventful first half.

In the thirty-fifth minute, however, Victoria added to their lead with a goal coming from the foot of Isaac Koch.

The T-Birds showed their attacking talent in the second half, but their attempts to score were unsuccessful.

Coming off of their 2-0 defeat, UBC was quick to respond the following night.

A flurry of goals came early on in the game. UBC added Jackson Farmer to the scoresheet after his goal in the second minute and Tristan Nkoghe made no mistake in putting away two goals before the ten-minute mark.

UBC dominated possession the entire game, patiently playing around the Vikes. Their diligence was rewarded in the ninetieth minute with a goal from Stefan Colbow after a lovely through ball from Sebastian Dzikowski.

With this vital victory, the T-Birds have a chance to prove themselves this weekend in the Canada West playoffs.

Another clutch fourth quarter comeback for UBC football

The T-Birds rallied late for the second-straight win of their season this past Saturday at UBC.

With 1,273 fans in attendance in the chilly drizzle, the T-Birds came out firing hot in the first quarter against the Manitoba Bisons. Led by the offensive play of wide-receiver Trey Kellogg and quarterback Garrett Rooker, UBC promptly got off to a 17-0 lead.

After their quick start, however, the T-Birds offence had difficulty regaining their stride and went scoreless for the second and third quarters. Though Manitoba was able to capitalize on this lull, scoring 24 points to take the lead, UBC’s defence was formidable. Kyle Sampson had a particularly noteworthy showing with six total tackles and one sack for 11 yards.

In a manner eerily similar to their October 16 victory against the Regina Rams, UBC let it all come down to the fourth quarter where they would pull out a clutch win against the Bisons.

With less than five minutes left in the final frame, UBC defensive-back Dustin MaGee intercepted the Bisons’ quarterback Sawyer Thiessen’s pass to regain possession for UBC. The T-Birds’ offence would take it from there. Down 19-24, Rooker and running-back Dane Kapler marched the offence downfield, resulting in a sixteen-yard pass to Trey Kellogg for his third touchdown of the game.

The win was Manitoba’s first loss of the season, and it leaves UBC tied at .500 with the University of Alberta for third-place in the Canada West division.

Despite their rocky start to the 2021 season, this young T-Birds team has shown admirable poise recovering from two late-game deficits.

Here’s hoping they will be able to continue their winning trend. Their next game is on the road against the University of Calgary on October 30.

Men’s hockey trump Bisons to remain undefeated

Over the weekend, the Thunderbirds came out on top in a tight series against the University of Manitoba Bisons, remaining a perfect 4-0 record this season.

On Friday night, Bison fans were treated to two quick powerplay goals to begin their home opener.

Devon Skoleski started it off by finishing a stunning passing play to give Manitoba the early lead, but it was short-lived as the T-Birds tied it up just five minutes later on a man advantage of their own.

The teams remained tied through the second period thanks to an impressive showcase of goaltending from both sides.

Early in the final frame, Quinn Benjafield confidently shot the puck through traffic and beat Bison’s goaltender Liam Hughes to kick off a wild period of back-and-forth scoring.

With just under four minutes left, Tian Rask crashed the net to score the game-winning goal, giving UBC the 4-3 victory. Rylan Toth stopped 31 of 34 shots in the win and was key in limiting Manitoba’s second chance opportunities.

Toth did not take the net on Saturday however, as UBC head coach Sven Butenschön handed the reins to first-year goaltender Ethan Anders. At the other end, Bisons’ goalie Jeremy Link took to the crease for Manitoba. Special teams were once more an important factor in the game, with the Bisons again scoring first on the man advantage.

Bisons added another powerplay marker late in the second period, when Linden McCorrister jumped on an Anders rebound to put the Bisons up 3-2. Anders seemed to settle in better in the third period and he was able to keep UBC in the game with several important saves.

With under three minutes to play, defenceman Ryan Pouliot walked in from the point and beat Link to tie the game, sending UBC to overtime for the first time this season.

The two teams lined up for five minutes of 4-on-4 hockey.

Halfway through the extra period, Jake Kryski was charged four minutes for slew footing, and UBC headed to an important 4-on-3 penalty kill.

Just moments later, Scott Atkinson found room and created a short-handed 2-on-1 for UBC the other way. Chris Douglas buried the one-timer past the Bison’s netminder to give the T-Birds another 4-3 win, and improve the teams win streak to four games.

UBC returns home this week to face the Grant MacEwan University Griffins at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird arena and the team will look to remain undefeated.

Women’s hockey takes the win in second game against the Manitoba Bisons

Following a 2-3 loss against Manitoba Friday night, the T-Birds emerged victorious on Saturday afternoon.

The T-Birds started strong in the first period, with rookie forward Grace Elliott from White Rock, BC, scoring her first career goal at 5:49, with assists from Chanreet Bassi and alternate captain Rylind MacKinnon. Second-year defender Kennesha Miswaggon, from Cross Lake, Manitoba, put the second point on the scoreboard with assists from Joelle Fiala and MacKinnon at 9:15.

Fiala, a third-year transfer student from Robert Morris University, earned her first U Sports career goal with an assist from Chanreet Bassi at 14:20, to finish the first period with a 3-0 lead for the T-Birds.

The first goal of the second period came halfway in, when second-year defenceman Camryn Gillis scored the sole goal for Manitoba.

The T-Birds quickly proved to Manitoba that they would not take another loss, however.

At 13:29, Bassi, a second-year from Lake Country, BC, scored a fourth goal for UBC with an assist from Elliott and MacKenzie Kordic.

Less than a minute later, at 14:26, rookie defender Sophia Gaskell scored UBC’s fifth goal with an assist from Fiala.

In the third period, both teams’ goaltenders and defence lines fought hard. Manitoba goalie Eirn Fargey blocked all seven shots directed at her. For UBC, Elise Hugens, a first-year from Sherwood Park, Alberta, blocked all four shots.

The T-Birds will face the MacEwan University Griffins this Friday in Edmonton, which is also their first U Sports meeting of the season.

Women’s soccer heads into hosting quarterfinal playoff after a successful regular season

Women’s soccer closed their regular season with a 3-1 road victory and a 1-1 draw this past weekend against the University of Victoria Vikes in Victoria.

This puts them to 9-1-2 on the season and second in the west division of the Canada West standings with six points behind the Trinity Western University Spartans, which is the team that T-Birds had their first loss of the regular season against last week.

First game of their double header against the Vikes, T-Birds had a 2-0 lead in the first half even though UVic had control of most of the possessions in the first ten minutes.

First goal was completed by second-year forward Vanessa Tome in the 22nd minute as she successfully sent the ball back to the net after her first attempt was saved by the Vikes’ Kayley Lidstone.

Three minutes into the second half, the Vikes’ Trinity Kettyls stopped the T-Birds’ lead, but it was not enough to catch up to the T-Birds as Danielle Steer took a low shot in a penalty kick in the 77th minute.

Even with a solid win on Friday, the T-Birds were not able to follow through the next day as they finished the double header with a 1-1 draw.

Multiple phenomenal plays were made by the T-Birds, including third-year Sophie Damian’s shot just outside the six-yard box blocked by the Vikes’ Dari Cote in the 25th minute.

At the beginning of the second half, Danielle Steer answered, once again, during a penalty kick in the 57th minute which gave UBC a 1-0 lead, but the Vikes responded during their free kick which slipped past Emily Moore and tied the game.

The T-Birds head into this weekend to host either the Manitoba Bisons or Regina Cougars at Thunderbird Stadium.

Women’s rugby finishes their regular season with first place in the Canada West Standings

The T-Birds showcased a convincing 44-10 win against the University of Victoria Vikes at the Gerald McGavin UBC Rugby Centre.

The first half consisted of trading scoring chances, but the T-Birds picked up the pace in the second half.

Four minutes right after the opening kickoff, the ball got past the right wing and found Madison Gold as Gold successfully gave the T-Birds an early 5-0 lead. However, the Vikes followed up with another try in the thirteenth minute.

The rest of the first half continued with the back-and-forth battle. Three minutes later, the third-year T-Bird Emma Feldinger was able to successfully complete the try, taking the lead to 10-5 and the Vikes tied the score again. Gold then found Alayna Scramstad for a converted try and gave UBC a 17-10 advantage.

The UBC women’s rugby head coach Dean Murten was very satisfied with the T-Birds’ performance in the second half.

“In the first half we looked a bit slow and lethargic … At halftime we had a good chat and fixed some of the things that were going wrong,” said Murten.

“One thing we have this year is depth, and we were able to get some of the younger players on and give them experience — while being able to get some of the older players off and rest them for another big game coming up on Thursday against Calgary.”

In the 51st minute, Florence Symonds completed her second try of the game and gave UBC a 22-10 cushion.

Then the T-Birds carried an amazing momentum with multiple successes including first-year centre Olivia Sarabura’s play after a Shoshanah Seumanutafa kick in the 72nd minute to extend the lead and capture a 44-10 win.

This game was also the final regular season game of five graduating seniors, — Gold, Feldinger, Kendra Robers, Emily Baker and Tess Woldring, — in front of the home crowd.

The T-Birds are set to play against the Calgary Dinos on Thursday.

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