The final stages of everything UBC women’s soccer has been working toward this season was finally underway last Thursday, Nov. 6 with the first day of the U Sports Women’s Soccer championship kicking off. Coming in as the top seed in the tournament — looking to defend their national title from the prior year — UBC faced off against the eighth seeded University of Guelph Gryphons in a gruelling quarterfinal match. After 90 minutes couldn’t solve things, with the game being tied 1-1 — the Thunderbirds were able to clinch the 2–1 win in extra time in Hamilton, Ontario.
The ‘Birds spot as the top seed was certainly well-earned. After an incredible regular season where they went 14–0, with a clean sheet streak in every game, the T-Birds capped things off with their 18th Canada West championship title. While Guelph came in as the lower seed, their season was nothing to sneeze at. After taking home a 8–1–3 record in the regular season, they finished second in the OUA after losing to the University of Toronto Varsity Blues 1–0 in the conference final.
Both team’s seasons were well-recognized heading into this one, with the U Sports awards taking place the evening before. Unsurprisingly, UBC got quite a few nods. Fourth-year defender Ella Sunde and second-year midfielder Sienna Gibson earned second team All-Canadian honours, and while defender Sophie Harrison didn’t win U Sports rookie of the year, she did earn a spot on the all-rookie team. The T-Birds’ keeper, fifth-year Dakota Beckett, earned first team All-Canadian for the second time in a row, a well-deserved honour after her record breaking season — posting a clean sheet in every game of the regular season.
For Guelph, while they didn’t have as many All-Canadians, the Gryphons’ fourth-year forward Olivia Rizakos earned perhaps the most coveted award — the 2025 U Sports women’s soccer player of the year.
On the field, UBC certainly had a leg up over the Gryphons in terms of experience on the national stage. Since 2019, the Thunderbirds have made it to nationals every year, with this season being their 20th appearance overall. They don’t just show up either — they win. They have the most national titles out of any school with nine. Guelph, on the other hand, has not been to the national championship for a while, with their last appearance back in 2017. This is only their fifth time in program history in the tournament, with the Gryphons’ still chasing their first ever national title — their best finish was a bronze medal in 1999.
But that history matters little unless you back it up. The ‘Birds looked to do just that as the game kicked off, looking sharp on defence early as the Gryphons tried to find a way past them. After a great touch by Guelph put the ball in the corner of UBC’s end, first-year defender Heike Clarke was there, expertly clearing the ball out as Guelph tried to cross into the box.
While the Thunderbirds had to start out on defence, they quickly flipped the field to set up their own chances. As Sunde got the ball for the ‘Birds, she pushed the attack forward, making a touch up to Holly Whelan, who quickly distributed it over to forward Jayda Thompson on the sideline. Thompson tried to capitalize on this chance, using her speed to cut into the middle, but the Gryphons’ quickly closed in to clear it.
Though Thompson couldn’t get a shot off, UBC kept possession on the inbound, with Whelan finding Maddy Norman for a shot. Norman’s shot was blocked by Guelph’s keeper Sabrina Spano, but she did not hold on to the ball, giving UBC a corner. Trying one more time to take advantage of this early rush, Harrison placed the corner into the short side of the box — but unfortunately for UBC the ‘Birds could not capitalize on this set piece, as it was cleared by Guelph.
This set of chances may have unlocked UBC’s offence. They started dominating the game, holding possession and utilizing their ball recycling to look for an opening and keep the play in Guelph’s end. They only allowed Guelph to get one shot off in the first half, and early on, it seemed like it was the Thunderbirds’ game to win.
As UBC continued their pressure on the Gryphons, they earned a free kick just outside of the box. Norman stepped up to take it from distance, getting off another nice shot — but it was not quite powerful enough to score and was being saved by Spano.
While Spano had handled all the ‘Birds chances so far, the T-Birds had started to find the cracks in Guelph’s defence, continuing to exploit them as they neared the end of the first half.
Case in point — as the game inched towards the 40-minute mark, Whelan found her way right to the net for another shot — but once again Spano was on it for the save. The ‘Birds kept at it, though. Right after Whelan’s chance, Gibson had another golden opportunity, taking a powerful shot right off the crossbar. As the ball bounced out, she tried to jump on it again, but was unable to get a second shot off. Gibson, alongside the rest of the T-Birds, had many chances in the first half, notching six shots, but they could not connect, as the game remained scoreless at halftime.
Although the T-Birds had outplayed the Gryphons in the first half, with the score tied at zero, it was anyone’s game to win in the pivotal quarterfinal match. The ‘Birds couldn’t get complacent here — the stakes were high. If they wanted to continue on their path to defend their title, they needed a win here. A loss in this game would send them over to the consolation side of the bracket, meaning a fifth-place finish would be the best possible end to their tournament — which would be a major disappointment after UBC’s dominant regular season.
Knowing so much was on the line, the Thunderbirds came out swinging in the second half. In the first five minutes of the half, Harrison battled hard in Guelph’s corner to keep the ball, spinning around to lose the defender and place the ball into the box. The Gryphons deflected the ball slightly, but did not get it away from UBC, as Whelan raced into the box to try for the shot — but once again, the attempt was thwarted by Spano, who beat Whelan to the ball after coming forward to challenge.
The ‘Birds weren’t the only team to come out with urgency after halftime. Guelph had some closer chances in the second half, earning three shots in the frame. However, while Guelph found better chances, they never had sustained pressure, with the ‘Birds quickly earning possession right back from the Gryphons any time they got a hold of the ball.
This ability to quickly flip the field was crucial for UBC. Only ten minutes into the second half, upon earning possession back from Guelph, the T-Birds got the ball to Whelan right in front of the net. With a quick turn to position herself, Whelan fired a powerful shot to put the Thunderbirds on the board and take an important 1–0 lead, finally breaking the deadlock.
Whelan, a third-year midfielder, has been a key player in UBC’s strong offence this season. While Whelan notched most of her goals early in the year, she continued to have a large impact on offence throughout the whole season, totalling six goals and four assists in the Canada West season and playoffs.
With plenty of time left in the second half, the T-Birds did not get too comfortable with their lead — looking to extend it. Ava Alexander, one of UBC’s top goal-scorers this year, took the ball all the way to the net to shoot, but Spano, who had been confident all game, easily saved it. Yet, while they still had trouble solving Spano, by keeping the pressure on the Gryphons, by forcing Guelph to lock down on defence, the Gryphons were mostly stuck reacting to the UBC attack. The ‘Birds clearly hoped to control the game until the end. They couldn’t.
With less than 10 minutes left and the Gryphons desperate to tie, they had a good chance off a great touch by Rizakos, getting the ball into the box. While the Thunderbirds were able to shut them down, they gave them a corner. This was exactly the set piece Guelph needed late in the game.
With the corner being placed right into the box, it was headed out by UBC, and, as a Gryphon tried to volley the ball back in, Harrison deflected it and looked to immediately send it up field. Yet, in a difficult turn of events, the referee called a handball on Harrison in the box to give Guelph a penalty kick. Gryphons striker Olivia Brown stepped up to take it, and with a beautiful shot, she found the bottom right corner. As Beckett guessed wrong, Brown scored to tie the game with almost no time left.
With the 90 minute mark fast approaching, both teams turned up the energy as they hoped to end the game in regulation time. As UBC moved quickly with the ball, Gibson took it up the field. She made a quick touch to Alexander for a shot, but, as had been a pattern for the ‘Birds all game, it was saved by Spano. She earned seven saves in the game — a major part of what kept the Gryphons in it for so long.
As Harrison thwarted a final Guelph attempt to get a shot off before the end of the game, added time ended with the game tied at one. Who would move onto the semifinals would be decided in extra time.
To start the first 15 minute half of overtime, both teams were ready to leave it all on the field. The T-Birds wasted no time setting the tone, as Norman earned a free kick for UBC early on. The Thunderbirds were able to get the ball right into the box, but Spano quickly came forward to grab it. UBC quickly earned another set piece — this time, a corner — but once again failed to capitalize off it. The ball went wide, and while Guelph jumped on it, trying to turn the chance around and go up the sidelines, Sofia Peckenpaugh, who had subbed in for overtime, was there to quickly take it away.
As the first half of overtime was about to draw to a close, the ‘Birds finally broke through. In a precise play of beautiful touches, the Thunderbirds got the ball from their own end to the Guelph net in around 20 seconds. After Beckett set the play in motion, distributing the ball from goal, UBC quickly got the ball up the field, eventually finding Norman in the box. With one touch, Norman placed the ball right in front of the net, placed perfectly for Gibson to fire a phenomenal bottom corner shot out of Spano’s reach. With Gibson’s goal, as long as they could hold on defensively, they’d be heading to the semifinals.
They did. The T-Birds held onto the lead, completely controlling the game, — neither team got another shot off. It was a long, gruelling match, but in the end, UBC came out on top, with the 2–1 win cementing their place in the next round and ensuring they would not be sent to the consolation side of the tournament. It was a more difficult first round than the first-seed of the tournament likely expected, but while the game was tight, the ‘Birds were still alive to continue on their path to defend their back-to-back championships.
They wouldn’t have much time to rest, however. The Thunderbirds would then have to prepare for their semifinal game on the next day, being set to play L’Université Laval Rouge et Or. Laval, the fifth-seeded team, had won their own quarterfinal game earlier that day, toppling the fourth-seeded Cape Breton University Capers. While Cape Breton opened the scoring, Laval came back to earn the win in the end.
This matchup in particular would be a tough one for UBC, being a rematch of last year’s final where the Thunderbirds were able to top Laval 1–0 to claim gold. With one more game standing in their way to make it back to the finals, the ‘Birds will have to quickly move on and muster whatever energy they have left against the revenge-seeking Rouge et Or.
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