still undefeated//

Women's soccer dominates Pandas in CW quarter-final

UBC clinched their spot in the Canada West (CW) semi-finals with a dominating 7–0 quarter-final win over the University of Alberta Pandas on Saturday at Thunderbird Stadium. 

After a record breaking 14–0 regular season, the ‘Birds kept their star-powered momentum going with their win against the Pandas. UBC held possession for most of the game and played with fierce intensity through both halves. The Thunderbirds outshot Alberta 20–3 with electrifying offensive attacks while their defence equally shined, shutting down any possible chances for the Pandas.

This past week, six T-Birds were named as CW women's soccer All-Stars. Among them was Bailey Doerksen, who made first team and had a phenomenal Saturday game, earning four points from three assists and a goal. Jade-Taylor Ryan, who made first team, and Sienna Gibson, who made the all-rookie team, had strong games as well earning two goals each.

“They're winners, and I think for me, they're very humble players, and they're there to support each other well,” head coach Jesse Symons said. “I think that's what's really created our team to get to that next level now is we're a team that really wants the other person to succeed.”

When asked about her performance, Doerksen said it was a group effort.  

“I definitely think it's a success to my team to be able to get that many points.”

In the first half, UBC came out strong putting lots of pressure on the Pandas. Sophia Ferreira earned the first Thunderbird goal in the 17th minute. Doerksen had a well placed corner in front of the net where Ferreira connected for a striking header and the defender’s first goal of the year. 

In the 22nd minute, Doerksen had a through ball to Taylor-Ryan to tap it in. Soon after, a clean pass in front by Doerksen once again found Taylor-Ryan, who got a quick shot off for her second goal and Doerksen’s third assist. 

Within her first two minutes after getting subbed onto the field, Gibson immediately beat a Pandas’ defender and chipped the ball over the Pandas’ goalie to score in the 36th minute. An own goal for Alberta in the 38th minute brought the score up to 5–0 for UBC to end the first half. 

“We're the type of team, we don't want to bring the energy down,” Doerksen said. “We're just trying to keep playing regardless of what the scoreboard says, and we want to keep pushing for results.”

The Thunderbirds started off the second half just as strong as the first. Vanessa Tome moved up the middle and placed a quick touch over to Gibson for her second goal of the game. Doerksen scored the seventh goal in the 70th minute off a great through ball from Sarah Rollins. Defensively, UBC held off the Pandas’ desperate advances to score to end the game 7–0. 

The ‘Birds move on to the Canada West semifinals where they will be facing rivals Trinity Western University, who they previously lost to in last year’s CW finals, on Friday, November 1 at 3 p.m. in Calgary.  

“Losing in the penalty shootout last year at Canada West still hurts a bit,” said Symons. “So we're excited to face them again and hopefully come out on top.”