Playing in a record fourth straight CIS final, the Trinity Western University women’s soccer team settled for a silver medal for the second straight year, after falling to UBC 3-0 Sunday at Thunderbird Stadium.
The Thunderbirds got on the board in the 18th minute with a goal from Madison Guy before Shayla Chorney doubled UBC’s lead in the 31st minute.
In the second half, Taylor Shannik salted away the game and ended any hopes of a TWU comeback when she scored the Tbirds third of the night in the 65th minute.
“Credit to my side, I think even after yesterday, with the emotion of going that late, we probably didn’t have as much reserve in the tank,” TWU head coach Graham Roxburgh said. “But, credit to [UBC], they were excellent. I think that if we hadn’t given away the second goal, 1-0 at halftime could have made things different. It’s a game of inches, because about 30 seconds before their second goal, we should have scored, or at least we were within inches. But, I mean, they deserved to win today.”
Following the game, TWU’s Amy Gartke and Stephanie Chin was named tournament all-stars.
After winning back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013, the Spartans have now dropped back-to-back championship bouts, having also lost to Laval in last year’s final.
In the 15 years since joining the CIS in 2001, the Spartans have won seven CIS medals, capturing five gold medals (2004, ’08, ’09, ’12, and ’13) and two CIS silver (2014 and ’15).
After dominating the run of play in the early going, UBC opened the scoring in the 18th minute.
A Shannik corner kick bounced around in the Spartans’ 18-yard box, but TWU was unable to clear it, and the ball found its way to Guy, who volleyed it home from 10 yards out.
Jenaya Robertson nearly got the Spartans on the board in the 30th minute, as she did well to slide and deflect a ball on UBC goalie Olivia de Goede with a defender in pursuit. However, the Tbirds’ keeper made an aggressive stop, charging out to meet Robertson’s attempt.
Off that same stop, UBC sprung forward in transition, and, at the other end of the field, Dhanda made a terrific cross in to Chorney, who managed to get her foot on the ball and redirect it past Williamson, doubling the UBC lead.
UBC’s backline was dominant in the first half as, outside of the Robertson opportunity, TWU never really threatened, finishing with just two shot attempts, and one on goal, in the opening 45 minutes.
Eleven minutes into the second half, Krista Gommeringer got one of Trinity Western’s best chances of the contest, as the veteran midfielder found a little space just inside the 18-yard box and got a hard shot off, only to be stymied by a diving de Goede.
The Tbirds sealed the result in the 65st minute, as Williamson misplayed a corner from Shannik, and the ball deflected into the Spartan net, putting the T-Birds up 3-0.
With six Gladys Bean Trophy triumphs, UBC, which also blanked Trinity Western 1-0 in last week’s Canada West final, now leads its archival by one atop the CIS all-time list. Despite the loss, the Spartans established a record of their own as they became the first team to appear in four straight national finals.
The 2016 CIS women’s soccer championships will be held at Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S.
FINAL WHISTLE: The Spartans played the final without fifth-year midfielder Ali Oliverio, who was out with an injury. Without Oliverio, Vanessa Kovacs was the lone fifth-year on the field for TWU. Kovacs graduates having played in the national tournament five times and in the CIS final four times in her five year career.