SYDNEY, Nova Scotia - The Trinity Western Spartans are headed back to the U SPORTS gold medal match after a 4-2 overtime victory over the Laval Rouge et Or in the second semi-final match at the women's soccer national championship Saturday afternoon in Sydney, N.S.
 
TWU all-star fourth year forward Kathryn Harvey (Coquitlam, B.C.) scored her fourth game winner in as many matches in the opening minute of the second overtime to send the Spartans to their ninth championship final. The Spartans last appeared in the national championship final in 2018 when they lost 2-1 to host Ottawa. TWU is 5-3 in national championship gold medal matches.
 
Harvey, who is tied for 11^th in CW in all-time game winning goals, scored the 3-2 winner when she went up the right side of the pitch, cutting back into the middle of the Laval penalty area to send the ball into the top left side of the Rouge et Or net.
 
The Spartans sealed the victory in 109^TH minute when rookie forward Holland Stiel (Okotoks, Alta.) scored the insurance goal to put the Spartans up 4-2. Trinity Western's Anna Dunn (Edmonton) got the ball at the top of six yard box, where she sent a nice touch pass off to left side to open Stiel who easily finds the open left side of the Laval net.
Third year TWU keeper Hannah Miller (Langley, B.C.) made seven saves to earn the win, while Laval keeper Myriam Labrecque made four saves in the loss.
 
The match was a tightly contested affair until the final 15 minutes of regulation. After being scoreless in the opening 75 minutes the two teams combined for four goals in the final 15 minutes to send the match into overtime.
 
Spartans All-Canadian Dunn opened the scoring when she found the back of the net in the 77^th minute to put TWU up 1-0. Stiel took the ball up the middle of the field and sent the ball off to Dunn on the left side of the box. Dunn sent the ball into the left side of the Laval net to give TWU the early lead.
 
Laval's Mathilde Rousseau tied the match at 1-1 in the 82^nd minute.  Rousseau took a touch from Daphnee Blovin to be sent up the middle, allowing Rousseau to split the TWU defenders to go in alone on Miller. Rousseau sent the ball past a diving Hannah Miller (Langley, B.C.) to the lower right side of the TWU net.
 
In the 88^th Rousseau got her second of the night. Rousseau went up the middle through TWU defenders, to take a strike from top of the box over Miller to put Laval up. 2-1 with the potential game winning goal.
 
Second-year midfielder Grace Van den brink (Chilliwack, B.C.) ended the thrilling final 15 minutes of regulation as she tied the match in the 90^th minute to send the game into overtime.
 
Rookie defender Tilly James (Vancouver) went up the left side of the pitch and beat the Laval outside back. James sent the ball across the box, where Harvey touched the ball through to the middle of the box. Van den brink then sent the ball through traffic to the far post. The ball got past Laval's Labrecque to go off of the post and tie the match at 2-2 to send the game into overtime.
 
Regulation time ended with Laval outshooting Trinity Western 9-6 overall, with a 7-6 edge in shots on goal. TWU continued to have a 9-3 edge in corner kicks.
 
The first overtime had Laval with the wind at their back, but neither team was able to find the back of the net in the first 15 minutes of overtime.
 
NOTABLE

• TWU is now 9-1 in U SPORTS championship semi-finals.
• The Spartans are now 3-1 lifetime against the Rouge et Or at the U SPORTS championship.
• The Spartans last met Laval in the 2018 U SPORTS championship quarter final, winning 1-0 in Ottawa.
• Laval outshot TWU 13-10 and had a 9-8 edge in shots on goal, while the Spartans finished with a 10-4 edge in corner kicks.
• The Spartans have won five U SPORTS championships. The last was from a 1-0 victory over Montreal in 2013.
• Players of the Game: Laval Mathilde Rousseau, TWU Anna Dunn
• Today's victory was head coach Graham Roxburgh's 250th career CIS win (conference and post season games). the U SPORTS Coach of the Year now has a record of 250-70-39.  

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Graham Roxburgh
"That was a tricky game, we have faced adversity a lot this season. What can you say our kids, credit to them, they have character and we always believed and we grew in our togetherness one more day."

"Laval is a great program and have great players. They were very intelligent in how they played and caused us problems in their shape."
"I knew we were going to get a chance to score as we knew their shape gets a little disjointed in transition. The ball that Holly played to Anna to put us up 1-0 was unbelievable."

"We were a bit unlucky as the wind probably played a little into their getting the tying goal. We knew the wind would be tricky and she just got in behind us. I said to our girls that if we can get to over time we will be good. So to go down 2-1was tough, but we found a little bit of inspiration in Tilly James. She is a centre back but she is good in so many ways and showed great character. And then Grace, who has had an unbelievable last month, deserved that tying goal."

"I said to the girls if we can deal with the wind in the first overtime period I think we will have a chance. And what can you say about Kat Harvey's finish. I've always said that if Kat can get a chance that she is good enough to create stuff on her own or be sent in behind with intelligent passes."

"I thought Holly as a first year showed up in big moments and made some intelligent decisions, I'm really glad she got rewarded."

"Sierra was fantastic and was our player of the game she drove us in the midfield when we were struggling, she was mobile and won her battles and made good decisions and she was our inspiration today."

"Anna Dunn, what can you say about her competitiveness a superb effort from her. And I can't forget Olivia Kranjcec she was unbelievable out there, she was superb."

TWU Forward Kathryn Harvey

On getting another game winning goal:
"There is no specific instance that brings these moments out. We are so in it and we are all focused and wanting to get the goal. I just happen to be the forward who scores the goals and gets the glory moment. But without my defenders and my midfielders grinding the goal would never have come. It wasn't a personal thing that happened it was a team goal."

"We were told at the beginning to press Laval and go as hard as we can. So that is what we did. We gave it our all when we pressed and we knew that when we won the ball back that that was when we could go and attack. It was just about staying connected and going for it."

On key to getting back in game after being down:
"It hurt us all when we went down. We have had a great season and we haven't been down a lot, but we all knew and trusted each other and we knew that we could come back and win. So it just took that look into each other's eyes and we knew that everyone was going to put every last ounce of effort they could to get the ball into the back of the net."

NEXT UP
The Spartans will now play the MacEwan Griffins in Sunday afternoon's Gold medal match. Kick off at Cape Breton University is set for 2 p.m. (AT). The game can be seen live on cbcsports.ca

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 29 Canada West team championships.

-TW-