The 2018 Canada West women’s soccer season for the UNBC Timberwolves can be summed up in one word … progress.
The T-Wolves went to the postseason for the second straight year making history in the process.
UNBC earned a clutch 2-1 shootout victory over the Manitoba Bisons on Friday, the school’s first playoff victory in women’s soccer since joining U-Sports.
From there, the Timberwolves hung tough against an elite UBC Thunderbirds squad on Sunday dropping a3-1 decision to a team that scored the second-most times in the regular season (37).
Regardless of the outcome, UNBC head coach Neil Sedgwick is proud of the way his team performed on the playoff-stage.
“It was a great weekend for the team and the program. We played a tough Manitoba team that finished third in the Prairie Division. We knew they would be tough and we had seen them before but the team came out and executed our plan well. It was a great accomplishment for the girls.”
At the final whistle, @ubctbirds top our @UNBCWSoccer 3-1. But what a season. And what a team. Proud of this bunch. pic.twitter.com/deQe92ZDO6
— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) October 28, 2018
The stiff test against the T-Birds proved to be a great measuring stick who put up a respectable result against the Vancouver-based university, which handed UNBC their worst loss of the regular season at Masich Place Stadium on September 30thby a 7-0 score.
Sedgwick believes the team showed great resolve and refused to be intimidated by their opponents from UBC.
“This group of individuals when they take the field for warm up they are fully present on what they have to do, they are very professional in their approach and sure you may have a memory of that game but they step out onto that field and they go about their business and do the things they want to do and want to accomplish. Credit to them for having a great performance like they did yesterday (Sunday).”
The final outcome of the season would not have been possible without the strong finish by the Timberwolves winning the final two games on the season slate against Thompson Rivers and UBC Okanagan.
The team dynamic also saw a shift resembling more of a family.
“It really shows the togetherness of this group, they stuck together and supported one another whether they were playing 90 minutes or whether they were redshirting and not playing a minute. They came together as a great group.”
Sedgwick’s favourite moment from the team’s final game came in the final 25 seconds when Paige Payne embraced graduating fifth-year player Kylie Erb who played her final game with UNBC along with Prince George product Madison Emmond.
The future’s looking bright for the Timberwolves who are returning every player with the exception of those two with more chances to add to the team’s nucleus.
“We have some wonderful commitments already and are looking forward to getting more girls to discover UNBC but I think this winter the girls are already talking about training and seeing how much growth they can find before we start up again next August.”
UNBC finished the regular season with a record of 3-8-3.
Payne led the team in goals with eight, which ranked top five in the conference.
Goalkeeper Brooke Molby finished third in the Canada West in the goals against category with nine followed by the second best save-percentage recording a mark of .836.
FULL Penalty Kick HIGHLIGHTS from @UNBCWSoccer's big @CanadaWest playoff win over the @umbisons! What a battle! Read the recap here: https://t.co/qxth1NUvEz pic.twitter.com/YYuiTUPiHc
— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) October 27, 2018
