VANCOUVER – The Trinity Western Spartans booked a berth at next week's U SPORTS nationals and a spot in Saturday's Canada West women's soccer championship gold medal game with a hard fought extra time 2-1 victory over the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack at UBC's Thunderbird Stadium on Friday evening.

Holland Stiel was the hero for the Spartans as her 112th minute goal proved to be the difference between the two sides on a night of wild weather and fierce action.
 
Charis Wardrope had fired Trinity Western into a first half lead before Camyrn Curts levelled things up with a second half strike to send the game to an extra 30 that saw the Spartans claim the victory.
 
"We knew it would be tough," Spartans head coach Graham Roxburgh said after the match. "We knew they were scrappy, we knew they were direct, and it's a tough surface to play on. We knew tonight was going to be a little bit scrappy, but credit to them, they had a great chance early, I thought we settled down and started to play. Our best moments came in the first half when we actually connected passes. I thought their keeper made one or two fantastic saves and we didn't bury our chances.
 
"I said to them at half time if you start on your front foot you'll probably bury this game in the first 15, 20 minutes and end their belief. Having said that, nobody expected a gale to show up and it made it very tricky to play. The playing conditions for both teams made it very hard, so it became a little bit of a battle of attrition. I'm so proud of our girls because we're banged up a bit and saw some kids come in and put in an extra shift, come off the bench, and be brave and make good decisions."
 
The first half was end to end action from the start, with both teams moving the ball forward well but coming up against two resolute defences.
 
It was the 21st minute before either team was able to carve out the first real goalscoring opportunity, with the Spartans' Tilly James nearly getting on the end of a Sierra Halldorson free kick but only to be denied by a point blank stop from Marissa Young.
 
The Wolfpack responded with their best chance of the half with a goalmouth scramble that saw Ainsley Grether's shot hit off the right post and the Spartans cleared the danger.
 
Trinity Western started to turn up the heat, led by Wardrope who brought a fantastic full length save out of Young in the 26th minute. Five minutes later she came closer still with a fierce strike that cannoned off the right post and straight back into the arms of Young.
 
The Spartans leading scorer wasn't to be denied, however, and she fired Trinity Western ahead less than a minute later, with a fantastic finish that gave Young no chance this time.
 
Thompson Rivers regrouped and closed the half strongly, with Grether's long range effort bringing out a save from Hannah Miller.
 
The weather took a dramatic turn in the second half as the rain came down in sheets and a strong wind swirled around the stadium, at one point sending the tents covering the wolfpack bench flying across the sideline.
 
But with the wind at their backs Thompson Rivers tried to take full advantage, dominating possession but failing to really test Miller.
 
That all changed in the 66th minute when the Wolfpack pounced on a Spartans mistake and as the ball was lofted into the box, Emily Clark knocked it inside to Curts, who finished with aplomb from just inside the box.
 
Thompson Rivers kept the pressure on and Grether brought a save out of Miller, but neither side could find the break through and the game headed into extra time.
 
The Wolfpack continued to take the game to the Spartans but couldn't capitalise on their early chances, with their best coming when Clark chased down a long ball forward 12 minutes into extra time, but Miller was out quickly to gather the ball with the Wolfpack forward looking set to strike.
 
The winner came with eight minutes of extra time remaining when Stiel finished from close range after great work from Canada West Rookie of the Year Sophie Crowther, who grabbed her second assist of the evening.
 
It was heartbreaking for Thompson Rivers, who still have a chance of making it to next week's U SPORTS nationals in Laval, with a do or die bronze medal match up with the Calgary Dinos.
 
"We've got to regroup because we've got another opportunity tomorrow in front of us," Wolfpack head coach Mark Pennington said after the match. "It'll be tough after 120 minutes, but I couldn't be more proud. We showed that we can go toe to toe with a team that's been ranked in the top two in the country at points this year. We're super proud of them. They've fought tooth and nail. We got back into the game again and scored a good goal but just came up a bit short at the end."
 
With a spot at the nationals now secured, Trinity Western battle for gold against old foes the UBC Thunderbirds on Saturday night.
 
"UBC took care of their business early," Roxburgh said. "Any time UBC and Trinity play it's a good battle. We'll have to regroup and pick up a little bit of the pieces from today as we're a bit banged up. But it'll be a good game, we respect them, and we love playing them."
 
Kickoff for the bronze medal match between the TRU WolfPack and the Calgary Dinos – with the final conference berth at the nationals up for grabs – is set for 5:00 p.m. PT at Thunderbird Stadium. The Gold medal match begins at 8:00 p.m.

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