SYDNEY, Nova Scotia - The Trinity Western Spartans quest for a sixth national title came to sudden end Sunday afternoon as TWU fell 3-2 in penalty kicks to the MacEwan Griffins in the U SPORTS national championship in Sydney, N.S.

TWU is now 27-10-1 in 13 national tournaments and they have played in nine of the last 10 U SPORTS championships. In their last appearance in 2018, TWU lost 2-1 to Ottawa in the gold medal match.

The Spartans and Griffins battled to a 2-2 tie through regulation and overtime before the MacEwan bested Trinity Western 3-2 in penalty kicks. Griffin back-up keeper Bianca Castillo made the save on the Spartans Katheryn Harvey to earn the victory for MacEwan. TWU scored twice in five attempts, Anna Dunn, and Olivia Kranjcec, while MacEwan scored three times in four attempts, Erin Van Dolder, Hannah Supina, and Grace Mwasalla.

The Spartans finish the season at 16-1-1 earning a Canada West championship and a U SPORTS silver medal. The Griffins finish the season 15-3 with a U SPORTS championship and a Canada West bronze medal. The U SPORTS championship victory is a first for MacEwan University women's soccer.

Trinity Western's Kathryn Harvey opened the scoring in the 16^th minute. Forward Maddie Melnychuk took the ball up the right side and sent a low cross towards the MacEwan six where Harvey redirected the ball into the back of the Griffens net to put TWU up 1-0.
 
MacEwan evened up the score in the 37^th minute after a TWU yellow card in the penalty area resulted in the penalty kick for the Griffins. MacEwan's Raeghan McCarthy took the PK and evened the score at 1-1 with her strike into the leftside of the Spartans net.
 
The Griffins had sustained pressure in the final minutes of the first half and were rewarded for their efforts in extra time. MacEwan's Salma Kamel took a pass from Grace Mwasalla at the top of the box and in traffic sent the hard shot off of the TWU cross bar. Leaping to deflect the high shot, TWU's keeper Hannah Miller saw the ball come off of the bar and rebound off of her back and into the Spartans net to give the Griffins a 2-1 lead after the first half of play.

The Spartans Kathryn Harvey got her second goal of the game, and fourth of the championship, to tie the match in the 63^rd minute of play. Harvey took a pass from Sierra Halldorson just at the top of the box, where she split the MacEwan defenders to get open on the right side. Harvey then sent the ball past MacEwan's Breanna Truscott to tie the match at 2-2.
 
The two teams held each other off the score sheet for the remainder of regulation and overtime as the game went to penalty kicks to determine the national champion.
 
NOTABLE

• TWU is now 5-4 in U SPORTS championship finals.
• The Spartans are now 4-2-1 lifetime against the Griffins in Canada West conference and play-offs.
• Harvey scored six goals in the last five play-off games, including three game winners.
• TWU is now 4-3 in penalty kick matches at U SPORTS championships, and 2-1 in gold medal matches.
• MacEwan outshot Trinity Western 12-7 overall and 7-4 in shots on goal.
• GMU starting keeper was injured late in overtime and replaced by backup Bianca Castillo for the remainder of OT and the penalty kick shootout.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Graham Roxburgh
"When you lose in a penalty shootout it is really just a toss of a coin to determine the winner. Give MacEwan credit they defended really well and made it tough for us as they limited our space. Both teams left it all out on the field tonight. Just unfortunate that you didn't get enough done to score in regulation or overtime and then it has to turn into a crap shoot."

"Probably a bit unlucky that we weren't up more than one early. We had good chances and had an offside go against us. Our mistake was we got rattled a little bit halfway through the first half and it cost us. We were disconnected and were struggling a bit with confidence. But we got back into it in the second half."

"I couldn't be more proud for girls as they fight through adversity. We were struggling for a while. Part of that was because we are at the end of the season and not much gas is left in the tank. "

At half comments
"I told them that we have to just stop panicking and we have to start playing again. And the goal we scored was a result of that. Give credit to our girls to dig deep and tie the game. I thought we had enough to win it and had the game continued on I thought we had a chance. There were a few decisive decisions that unfortunately today went against us."

On Elizabeth Hicks second yellow card
"We've had kids step up for us all season. I thought Jessica (Vance) and Tilly (James) handled it really well when Liz went out. Anna (Dunn) isn't a right back, but she did really well. We adjusted the shape and I don't think we were under any real pressure when we went down to 10 players. But it just obviously caused us an inability to get numbers forward. It was a decisive moment. I thought for sure it was a yellow card, but I thought Liz was hard done by, by being given the first yellow card by a referee who misunderstood that situation and probably blows her whistle louder that doesn't happen."

Fifth year captain Liz Hicks
"The mental game is for sure one of the hardest parts of playing. Especially with a lot of young players. Just keeping them mentally sharp and keeping them in the game with all the ups and downs. But you are going into a national final that is what you are going to expect."

On playing with all the young players:
"Those girls are the reason we got so far. They stepped up when injuries came about. For a lot of them this is their first national tournament. I am beyond proud of all of them. We have quite a few of young players and this just looks good for the future of our team and I am so proud of each and every one of them."

Tournament MVP
Samantha Gouveia: MacEwan Griffins
 
Tournament All-Stars
Samantha Gouveia: MacEwan Griffins
Breanna Truscott: MacEwan Griffins
Kaylin Hermanutz: MacEwan Griffins
Grace Mwasalla: MacEwan Griffins
Meagan Lemoine: MacEwan Griffins
Elizabeth Hicks: Trinity Western Spartans
Anna Dunn: Trinity Western Spartans
Kathryn Harvey: Trinity Western Spartans
Jacqueline Tyrer: UBC Thunderbirds
Mathilde Rousseau: Laval Rouge et Or
Arielle Roy-Petitclerc: Laval Rouge et Or
 
R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award
Queen's University Gaels

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.

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