Thunderbirds win in style
UBC captures 100th CIS team title during its 100th anniversary
The most decorated university sports program in Canadian history has always had a knack for the moment, but what the UBC women’s soccer team did Sunday on a chilly and blustery evening at Thunderbird Stadium moved beyond magnificent and into the sublime.
When the Thunderbirds defeated Langley’s Trinity Western Spartans 3-0 in the CIS national championship final, it gave UBC, celebrating its 100th anniversary this year as an institution, its 100th CIS team title. How’s that for winning in style? “I knew it was our 100th anniversary, but it didn’t know it was our 100th title,” said UBC’s first-year head coach Marisa Kovacs, who gasped when learning of the number prior to the post-game awards ceremony. “What an honour.”
It might be a bit much to say the ’Birds (19-1-3) came out of nowhere, but they hadn’t won the Gladys Bean Memorial Trophy since 2006 and last season, they were a 6-4-2 team that lost to the Spartans in the opening round of conference playoffs.
By contrast, when the national tournament opened Thursday, every second-, third- and fourth-year TWU player had already had the experience of having each and every one of their seasons end in a CIS gold-medal final match. So where did UBC get its poise? “I think it was just belief from the very beginning,” said Kovacs, whose team built a 2-0 halftime lead and dominated the play for huge stretches of the evening. “They believed in themselves and win after win, that belief just continued to grow. And besides, we were on our home turf and there was nowhere else we’d rather be. I guess you could say it was a bigger stage, but I just wanted it to feel like just another game.”
That was pretty much impossible, because UBC and Trinity Western entered Sunday’s final in a tie for most CIS national women’s soccer titles at five apiece. And the ’Birds became the all-time national title leaders behind an attack-minded style that never seemed to be lacking for enthusiasm.
UBC’s tournament MVP Jasmin Dhanda was stopped point-black by TWU keeper Ally Williamson in the 13th minute, but that was the calm before the storm as the ’Birds soon scored the first of back-to-back opening half goals.
Madison Guy’s 12-yard volley made it 1-0 in the 18th minute and in the 31st, Shayla Chorney made no mistake converting Dhanda’s short cross from about seven yards out.
UBC made it 3-0 in the 65th minute when Taylor Shannik’s corner kick somehow found its way past Williamson.
“They smothered us and made it difficult for us to play,” said TWU head coach Graham Roxburgh, whose team had won two straight titles (2012-13) but has now lost in the last two national title games, including 5-0 to Laval last season.
“Was it one of those days? Unfortunately, it’s been two of those days the last two years. I think if we hadn’t given up that second goal, it might have been a different game, 1-0 at half. But they deserved to win. I think today and this year, (UBC) had a bit more determination and maybe a little bit more togetherness.”
With a national tournament berth already assured at the start of the season, UBC sat in a dangerous position of resting on its laurels. Instead, it earned everything, going 9-0-1 over its final 10 matches and posting five straight clean sheets to end a dream season in their home park.