WINNIPEG --Â A goal in the 92nd minute by Rebecca Morgan made the difference on Saturday afternoon at the west turf field, as the No.1 nationally-ranked UBC Thunderbirds stole a victory from the Manitoba Bisons in a well-paced slugfest.
Entering the game, UBC led the conference in goals scored, with 18, with the dangerous trio of Katalin Tolnai, Danielle Steer and Nisa Reehal combining for 15. An aggressive team in transition, they peppered the Manitoba net with opportunities, but had a hard time breaking through for quality looks. Overall, 13 shots were fired, but many were from odd angles, as the Bisons back line, which included the likes of
Rebecca Waterman,
Dalima Chhibber,
Bianca Bucci,
Ava Memka and
Breyanna Johnston-Krulicki marked their players well, keeping many chances for UBC to the outside. The T-Birds also had seven corner kicks, but were unable to cash in.Â
"The positives are that we can compete with anyone. We're not afraid of any team. We know what we have and the type of team that we have, and we wanted to compete and win, and get the three points and we showed that," said Bisons head coach Vanessa Martinez-Lagunas.
"I'm really proud of the team for the effort they put in. Every single person who came in made a difference. The key was to keep the intensity super high and they did it. You could see that we were very organized defensively. Everyone put the work in, and I'm really proud of them. [UBC] was completely frustrated, they didn't know how to break our defence. Something we need to learn also is even when we had the tie, how to manage the game better. That is a lesson that we need to keep working, and hopefully we see them again."
Karina Bagi -- Manitoba's player of the game -- was also stellar in net for the Herd. She stopped six shots overall, including a close range chance at the 14-minute mark where she contorted her body from right to left, diving to keep the score level entering halftime. A vast majority of UBC's chances in the first half came from Reehal, who used her speed to get open down the right flank, however Bucci and Memka tracked her well.Â
Manitoba opened the scoring 14 minutes into the second half, as UBC had a lapse in judgement, and scored on their own net on what appeared to be a harmless pass from the back line to netminder Sarah Johns. A pass was sent to her near the left corner and she let it go, thinking it would slide past the far post, however it tucked in. The goal was set up by the aggressiveness of veteran midfielder Alex Paul, who stole the ball away near the centre line and challenged the play in the UBC end.Â
The T-Birds pushed back immediately and were the aggressors from that point onwards, bringing nine players up past midfield to try and level the score. They were rewarded in the 70th minute as a foul was called on Manitoba just outside the six-yard box, resulting in a UBC penalty kick. It was a tough call, as players for both sides were fighting for possession and it appeared that a Bison was taken down, however the call went in UBC's favour. Tolnai, who leads Canada West with seven goals, took advantage, tucking the ball just past Bagi on a low shot to the left post.Â
The T-Birds continued to press and scored the game-winner off the foot of Morgan in extra time, as she delivered a low shot from near the 18-yard box that bounced and found the back of the net. The victory improves their record to 6-0-0 while Manitoba fell to 3-2-0. Both teams play tomorrow, with UBC facing Winnipeg and Manitoba taking on Victoria.Â
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