Box Score LANGLEY, British Columbia – At Canada West Select Six, the Manitoba Bisons lose 2-0 to #9 UBC Thunderbirds in women's soccer at Chase Office Field. With the playoff loss at TWU, the Bisons (4-7-3/1-1 in playoffs) 2016 conference season officially ends.
Jasmine Dhanda opened the scoring in the 15th minute before Rachel Jones buried an insurance marker in the 43rd minute for the UBC victory.
The T-Birds will now play MacEwan in the semifinals Saturday at 4 p.m. (PT) at Chase Office Field, with the winner earning both a spot in the conference final and a berth in the CIS national championship tournament. The game can be seen live at www.canadawest.tv.
UBC was the better team from the start, outshooting Manitoba 31-1 and carrying the pace of play throughout. After the T-Birds outshot Manitoba 19-0 in the first half, the Bisons were marginally better in the possession game over the second 45 minutes, but were unrewarded and only garnered one official shot on goal.
For the second game in a row, Bisons goalie Maddie Wilford was the story of the game for Manitoba as she made 12 saves. Wilford also made 13 saves in the Bisons play-in upset win over Calgary last weekend.
After plenty of early first half possession, Dhanda opened the scoring for the T-Birds when she sliced through the box and slotted it past Wilford.
UBC doubled its lead right before halftime on a wild scramble in the box that Jones eventually knocked into the net. The T-Birds goal scorer initially took a shot on goal, but her effort was deflected by Wilford before going off the cross bar and falling in the six-yard box. With the ball loose and a slew of players attempting to make a play, it was Jones who eventually found it again and buried it.
The Bisons only crack on goal came on an Amanda Wong free kick in the 66th minute, but UBC goalie Marlee Maracle was up to the task on the only shot she faced all game.
The T-Birds will now take on a Griffins side that they played to a 0-0 draw in their lone regular season meeting this year.
The Bison women's soccer team finished the season after advancing to Select Six for the first time since 2008 season. Manitoba's playoff record so far in the program's history is now 3-6 in the program's 12 year history.
Game Notes: The T-Birds beat Manitoba 2-1 in their only contest of the regular season…UBC has now scored five goals in two playoffs games…the Bisons were outshot 58-7 in their two playoffs games, but only allowed three goals.
Women's Soccer Final 6: Hosted at Trinity Western University
Thursday Nov. 3
Game 1: 6 p.m. CT – Prairie #3 Manitoba 0 vs. Pacific #2 UBC 2
Game 2: 9 p.m. CT – Pacific #3 Victoria vs. Prairie #2 Saskatchewan
Saturday, Nov. 5
Game 3: 3 p.m. CT – TWU vs. Winner of Game #2
Game 4: 6 p.m. CT – MacEwan vs. Winner of Game 1
Sunday, Nov. 6
Game 5: 3 p.m. CT – Bronze medal match
Game 6: 6 p.m. CT – Gold medal match
Bison Notes: Manitoba had only met meet UBC once in the playoffs as they played in 2008 when they lost 1-0 in the bronze medal match in conference Select Six.
