Game Recap
WOMEN’S SOCCER (CANADA WEST GOLD MEDAL)
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2009
NO. 2 TWU SPARTANS (1) VS THE NO. 9 UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA THUNDERBIRDS (0)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SPARTANS WIN THIRD CANADA WEST BANNER
LANGLEY, British Columbia – Trinity Western University forward Nikki Wright’s (Cloverdale, B.C.) scored the only goal of the match, and her third in two days, to lead the No. 2 Spartans to a Canada West gold medal with a 1-0 win over the No. 9 University of British Columbia Thunderbirds Saturday night at TWU’s Langley, B.C. campus.
The win give the Spartans their third Canada West title in six years and sends the defending CIS champions back to the national tournament as the number one seed out of Canada West. The Thunderbirds, whose last Canada West title was in 2007, will advance to the CIS tournament as the Canada West number two seed.
“UBC is an excellent team with great veterans and we knew it was going to be a battle and would probably end up being a one goal game. And tonight we were on the right end of the one goal game,” commented TWU head coach Graham Roxburgh. “It is great to go into such a big tournament coming off the high of a win. We didn’t play well last night and we bounced back as a whole group tonight after being a little bit shaky last night. We talked about our goal for tonight that we had to play well and we knew that if we played well that we would be in good shape.”
The second year forward scored the lone goal of the match in the 40th minute. Midfielder Rebecca Ferguson (Calgary) found Wright in the centre of the Thunderbirds penalty area. Wright turned and sent a nicely shaped ball past UBC’s Jaclyn Dunnett (Burnaby, B.C.) and into the left side of the Thunderbirds net.
“Nikki is a special player. She has the ability to get behind players. She can finish and she is not afraid to take things on in the box. Even tonight she did the work rate that we needed defensively when we were a little under pressure. She demonstrated exactly what we wanted our team to do: play with passion, play with intensity and play with intelligence,” commented Roxburgh on his all-Canadian forward.
The match was an evenly played contest with both teams making key plays to break up their opponent’s offensive opportunities. The Spartans finished with a six to five edge in total shots and a six to four edge in corner kicks.
TWU keeper Kristen Funk (Calgary) made one save to earn the win but did a quality job of controlling the penalty area. “I thought Kristen did an excellent job tonight,” commented TWU head coach Graham Roxburgh. While the Thunderbirds Dunnett made two saves in the loss.
As the No. 1 Canada West seed TWU will open the CIS championship against the AUS No. 2 seed on Thursday morning at 11 a.m. EST. The Spartans are on the same side of the draw as OUA No. 2 and AUS No. 1, who meet in the other quarter final. The Thunderbirds, as CW No. 2 will open the tournament on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. EST against the OUA No. 1. They are on the same side of the draw as host Toronto and Quebec No. 1, who meet in the other quarter final.
TWU has won the CIS championship in 2004 and 2008, while UBC has five banners and last won the CIS title in 2006.
About CWUAA “Canada West is consistently the most decorated of the four conferences in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), winning at least 10 CIS national titles every year since 1997-98. Comprised of 14 schools, from the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, the CWUAA produces numerous major award winners and Academic All-Canadian student-athletes each year, with many going on to athletic success around the globe in pro leagues and events such as the Olympics, Paralympics or Universiade Games.”
-TW-
