After two early goals by the University of Montreal Carabins, the UBC Women’s Soccer team faced a multi-goal deficit. They’d been here before, just a couple days earlier, coming back from down two to beat Laval in the semifinal. But this was still unfamiliar for the ‘Birds. Aside from the Laval game, UBC has only been down multiple goals once in the 2020s, in a 2023 loss to Victoria. They’re used to playing with the lead. But now, on the biggest stage, they’d be forced to learn how.
If they couldn’t, one of the more remarkable achievements in Canadian university sport would come to an end. The T-Birds had won 42 consecutive U Sports games before this one, a streak that included two national championships — but they’d start again at zero if they couldn’t find two goals. With so much at stake, the Thunderbirds needed to rally to close the gap. They only got halfway there. UBC’s outstanding season came to a heartbreaking end. The T-Birds claimed silver at the U Sports Women’s Soccer Championship, falling to Montreal 2–1 in the final game of the season on Nov. 9.
This wasn’t some major upset, however. Both teams had built quite an impressive resume before entering the national tournament. As part of their larger winning streak, the ‘Birds finished the regular season with a 14–0–0 record, with a clean sheet in every game — not allowing a single goal. While they eventually conceded a goal in the post-season, UBC continued their winning ways into the playoffs as they became the Canada West champions for the second year in a row, earning the first seed in the U Sports national tournament.
The Carabins had an equally impressive season, with a 13–0–1 record. Like UBC, they also topped their conference, winning the RSEQ finals to earn the second seed just behind the T-Birds, likely only being placed being the T-Birds because of their one draw. A large part of their success has been their coach, Nadège Akamse. Winning the U Sports coach of the year award before the tournament, in her third year, Akamse has propelled the Carabins to a successful season, hitting nationals with momentum, as they have won 11 straight clean sheet games coming into this final match.
Montreal made it through to the final round unscathed, with two commanding wins. In the quarterfinals, they faced off against the host team, the McMaster University Marauders, coming out on top 2–0 to beat the Marauders in front of their home crowd. They kept rolling in the semifinals, with the Carabins breezing right through to the gold medal game after a 4–0 blowout win against UBC’s familiar Canada West rival, the Trinity Western University Spartans.
UBC, on the other hand, was repeatedly tested through the tournament — facing adversity for the first time after a completely dominant season. In the quarterfinals they faced the University of Guelph Gryphons, a game that was tied at one after 90 minutes, needing overtime before UBC was able to secure the win. They faced an even greater challenge in the next round. As mentioned previously, the T-Birds pulled off an incredible comeback win against L’Université Laval Rouge et Or in their semifinal match, with fourth-year Jayda Thompson leading the way on offence after falling 2–0 early on, as the ‘Birds dug deep to take the win 3–2.
These two teams were about as evenly-matched as you can get. It was a battle of the undefeated. These two teams have only matched up four times in the history of this tournament, with UBC holding a 2–1 record over Montreal before this one. Most of that history is recent. UBC has ended Montreal’s season the last two times they met, winning in the semifinals in 2023 and in the quarterfinals in 2019.
On a broader scale, both the Thunderbirds and the Carabins have recent experience on the big stage. Obviously, UBC were back-to-back champions in the last two years — but Montreal was the last team before UBC to win the final in 2022.
The T-Birds were gunning for the never-before-seen three-peat. The Carabins were looking to get their third title in program history. This final was a battle between the two best teams all season long, but at the end of day, only one would be able to still boast an undefeated season.
Unfortunately, the clash of these soccer titans would have to wait a bit longer. The game was delayed due to inclement weather, as Hamilton, the host city, was hit with a massive snowstorm. The bronze medal match was cancelled, but the final went on, forcing the teams to play through the cold and snowy conditions. The weather conditions added an extra challenge to what was already a demanding game — but both teams looked determined to push through it.
Once the weather delay ended, Montreal quickly took control, putting pressure on UBC early and holding the ball near the box. Taking the ball on the inbound, Carabins defender Cassandra Decombe threw the ball to Sara Ricciardelli in the box, who headed it backwards toward the net.
While ‘Birds midfielder Taiya Dennehy was there to deflect it clear it out, Montreal’s Karine Vilain read the ball well, surging forward to be first to it. With one touch to control it, she fired a beautiful shot right to the net. The ball soared high, overtop of UBC keeper Dakota Beckett, who reached out — barely getting a hand on it — but could not stop it as it tipped into the goal. A little more than 10 minutes in, Montreal had the lead.
Montreal did not stop there. The Carabins used their early success as momentum to propel their offence, looking to strike again. Looking to respond, UBC was headed toward the Carabins net, but a misplaced touch got the ball to Montreal’s defence first as they cleared it all the way down the field.
The long ball down the sideline found its way to Montreal’s Jeanne Even in the corner, quickly passing it to Léonie Portelance in the box. While Portelance turned to shoot, once again Dennehy was there to block it. Once again, it wasn’t enough. As the ball bounced off Dennehy, Carabins forward Alexie Bellerose saw her opening, stepping forward for another high shot, just out of Beckett’s reach, to score Montreal’s second goal in two minutes. The Carabins were making something that had been impossible for teams all year long — scoring on the T-Birds — seem easy.
While the Thunderbirds finding themselves trailing by two early on echoed the Laval game only a couple days before, there was a key difference. The snow. With the harsh conditions on the field slowing the pace of play, it gave the Carabins quite the advantage, making it that much harder for the ‘Birds to get back in it. The whole season, UBC had not been as tested as they were in this match. They would have to dig deep and find some offence — with almost a full game left to play — if they wanted to keep a chance at the win.
The Carabins’ early lead was no fluke. Montreal did a good job to get behind the T-Birds’ back line and get into the box — something no team has been able to do all season. With long touches down the field, they were able to set up plays quick and make it difficult for UBC to properly defend. Once the ball was in the box, they swarmed in and did well to be first to the ball, earning more chances and keeping the pressure on the Thunderbirds. Both goals found the sweet spot in the net — just out of Beckett’s reach — practically impossible for the first-team all-Canadian goalkeeper to save.
With their goal clear, UBC tried to rally quickly, first setting up Thompson — last game's offensive leader — with the ball. Thompson raced towards goal, but she was not quite able to get a shot away, as Montreal was able to cut her off. The ‘Bird’s earned the corner, but could not effectively capitalize on the early set piece.
They continued their offensive push, getting another scoring opportunity as Ava Alexander was taken down in the attacking end, earning UBC a free kick. First-year defender Heike Clarke took it, and with a great ball, she sent it long into the corner. Alexander then set up a chance, trying to cross the ball into the box. While it ricocheted off a Carabins player, the ball bounced back to UBC’s leading scorer, Sienna Gibson, who jumped on it. She couldn’t convert, firing the ball high over the net.
With only a couple minutes left in the first half, the T-Birds were still in a tough spot, still down two. Making matters worse, they didn’t just have to worry about making up the deficit — they also had to ensure it didn’t grow larger, a real concern as Montreal stepped up for a corner kick.
As the ball soared right toward the net, UBC quickly got their feet on it to pass it out, with Thompson getting the ball outside the box, making a great touch over to Sophie Harrison, who was open on the side. Breaking away on a run all the way down the field, she fired a phenomenal shot from distance, beating the Carabins’ keeper to close the gap for the Thunderbirds.
As a first-year, Harrison has already made an incredible impact on the team. She has quickly stepped into her role as a starting defender — even winning the Canada West rookie of the year award — an incredible pickup for this team, coming all the way from England. By scoring her first goal as a Thunderbird in the national championship game, Harrison left her mark at the end of the season. With this goal, not only did Harrison get UBC on the board, but she smashed the Carabins’ 11-game clean sheet streak.
By sneaking that goal in right before the end of the first half, Montreal led only 2–1 at halftime. All UBC needed now was one shot. The T-Birds celebrated Harrison’s goal, but only for a moment.They immediately refocused coming out after the half, seeming to reignite their energy and send Montreal a message. They were still in the game.
The second half went back and forth for both teams, but as the snow started to come down harder, both teams struggled to connect on offence. With the weather only worsening, the Thunderbirds’ options to score became increasingly limited.
Trying to take what they could get, UBC earned a corner, as their push to the net paid off with a chance off a set piece. Dennehy stepped up to take it, but Montreal was first to the ball, clearing it out the backline. With another corner, the T-Birds played it short to Alexander, who made a touch to Maddy Norman, but once more, the Carabins were able to jump on it and clear it.
The second half was an offensive deadlock as neither team even tallied a shot for nearly 35 minutes. These teams scored at will in the regular season, both landing in the top five in goals per game, but the snow ground the game to a halt. While UBC had all the motivation they needed to push for the tying goal, Montreal was making it as difficult as possible for the ‘Birds. As the game went on, every time the Carabins were able to get to the ball, they cleared it, turning their strategy to focus on wasting time and keeping the ball out of their end as much as possible.
Then, with yet another set piece, it looked as though the Thunderbirds would be able to turn the tide. Montreal fouled UBC in close range to their net — potentially a fatal mistake. However, the Carabins could breathe a sigh of relief, as when Hannah Bains stepped up to take the free kick, she launched it right towards the net — into the arms of the keeper.
That may have been their last chance. With only a few minutes left, the T-Birds were quickly running out of time — and it only got worse for them. Montreal earned a corner with no time left, as they played a short touch to hold the ball in the corner. UBC fought to try and quickly get the ball back in play, but the Carabins had effectively wasted enough time to hold them off.
When the referee finally called the game, the Montreal Carabins became the 2025 U Sports champions, beating UBC by a final score of 2–1. While UBC tried so hard to get a goal in second half — outshooting the Carabins 3–0 — they could not find the back of the net after Harrison’s goal.
UBC’s perfect season was over, as UBC’s winning streak broke on the biggest stage. By besting the Thunderbirds, the Carabins pulled off what might have seemed impossible, ending a streak of 42 straight victories and two straight national titles, handing the UBC women’s soccer team their first loss since Nov. 3, 2023. It was Montreal’s commanding start that would earn them gold in the end, as the T-Birds could not catch up, falling short of glory.
It was a heartbreaking loss for the Thunderbirds and not the ending they would have wanted — especially for the graduating players. All of their success before this — the historic winning streak, the clean sheet streak — there was so much building to this moment that, in the end, likely made it a harder loss for UBC. The three-peat remains ever-elusive as UBC’s dynasty came to an end.
After all they achieved this season, it seems likely that they will be back on the national stage. The future of the team seems to be in good hands, with head coach Jesse Symons and returning players such as Gibson, Harrison, Thompson, Norman, Dennehy and more. Hopefully for the T-Birds, this loss will be the chip on their shoulder next season, pushing them to continue to dominate and improve into 2026.
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