This past weekend, four women’s soccer teams entered Calgary’s McMahon Stadium harbouring hopes of Canada West (CW) gold and advancement to the national championship tournament. Amidst the fray, the UBC Thunderbirds continued their undefeated season, clearing the Trinity Western University Spartans and University of Victoria Vikes to top the CW conference.
In a match-up rife with history, Friday’s semifinal saw Trinity Western, the reigning conference champions, face UBC, the reigning national champions. Both universities had earned their title through a win over the other: The Spartans bested UBC in the 2023 CW finals, but the ‘Birds claimed vengeance in the national championship game.
The Thunderbirds applied pressure early. In the 18th minute, Jayda Thompson scored the only goal of the game, cutting between defenders to curl a beautiful strike into the upper-right corner of the net. Thompson led the ‘Birds with three shots-on-goal.
UBC felt comfortable enough to rest star forward and conference leading scorer Jade Taylor-Ryan for much of the game — perhaps because they’d outscored the Spartans 6–0 in their 2024 regular season match ups. With Taylor-Ryan on the bench, both teams struggled against the other’s defence, though UBC kept a slight edge throughout the first half. Despite ramped-up efforts from the Spartans in the second, the ‘Birds maintained their 1–0 lead until the final whistle.
After defeating Trinity Western, the Thunderbirds took on the Vikes in Sunday’s gold medal game. The Vikes, who had upset the second-place University of Calgary Dinos in the semifinal round, struggled to keep pace with the ‘Birds.
UBC’s offence hit their stride against Victoria, attacking relentlessly. In the first period alone, the ‘Birds fired off 11 shots, earning 6 corner kicks. Meanwhile, the Vikes rarely breached the UBC penalty box. The ‘Birds shot another eight times in the second, bringing their total to eight shots-on-goal for the game — twice that of the Vikes.
Thompson again struck first in the 18th minute, scoring off a mis-touch from a UVic defender. As she had in the previous game, the third-year forward continued to excel, scoring again in the second half. She split two defenders then shot past a defender and goalkeeper to extend UBC’s lead to 2–0 in the 51st minute.
Taylor-Ryan finally got a goal of her own in the 67th minute, smashing a cross from Vanessa Tome into the back of the net. Still struggling to make headway with a half-period remaining, the Vikes had no real chance at closing the 3–0 deficit.
With the win, the Thunderbirds claimed Canada West gold and the number one seed in the U Sports national championship bracket. The Spartans and Vikes also advanced to nationals, albeit with lower seedings.
It’s now been over a year since UBC was last defeated in league play. The ‘Birds’ bid to defend their crown — and stay undefeated — will begin on November 7, when they’ll take on the eighth-place Dalhousie University Tigers.
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