HAMILTON, Ontario– Fourth-year midfielder and second-team All-Canadian Sophie Crowther (New Westminster, B.C.) had a three-point night with a brace and an assist to lead the No. 6 Trinity Western Spartans to a 3-1 win over the No. 3 Toronto Varsity Blues Thursday night in the U SPORTS Quarter-final match at Ron Joyce Stadium at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.
 
The Spartans, who fell behind 1-0 in the second minute, responded with three second-half goals to punch their ticket into Friday night's U SPORTS championship semifinal.
 
Scoring for the Spartans were Sophie Crowther with two goals and third-year forward Luciana Andrews (Coquitlam, B.C.). Scoring for the Varsity Blues Maddy Mah
 
Third-year keeper Yasmine Pahal (Surrey, B.C.) made three saves in the Spartans' win, while Toronto's Maria Godoy-Atrash made six saves in the Varsity Blues' loss.
 
UP NEXT
The No. 6 Spartans will now play the No. 2 Montreal Carabin (RSEQ Champions) for the right to advance to Sunday's Gold Medal Match. The semifinal game time is set for 7:30 p.m. (ET) Friday at Ron Joyce Stadium at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.

QUOTABLE
FULL POST MATCH COACH AND PLAYER INTERVIEWS - LINK

Graham Roxburgh, TWU Head Coach
"We didn't make it easier on ourselves going down one in the first two minutes. Credit Toronto, we knew they had a player that could throw the ball long, and probably just before we were mentally and fully engaged in the game, and so unfortunate, took a wrong bounce, and they had a player free, and before you know it, we were down one. I thought that we generated lots of good, you know, maybe B+ or A- chances. They weren't really clear-cut, but we had corner after corner, and probably ended up dominating most of the play in the first half. I felt like that at times, we were going to get one, and then all of a sudden, it's halftime."
 
"If you are going to go down a goal, it's probably not a bad idea to do so in the first minute rather than later in the game. So we knew we had lots of opportunities to kind of correct it and rectify it and generate chances, and I can't say enough about our kids and how they battled."
 
"At halftime, we just asked our girls to be calm and stick to the game plan, start finding so wide channels, and obviously, we did that, so we're super proud of the girls. I think in those moments, you've been here long enough and have seen players maybe panic under pressure, and I felt like we didn't do that tonight, which is a testament to the players."
 
"We made some decisions at halftime to maybe just change it up a little bit, freshen up on midfield, and we knew that if Soph could get into the wide channels, and Mansha (Sidhu, forward, Surrey, B.C.) could get into the wide channels. Our game model has our outside backs joining it, and so I'm really pleased for Mya (Bajpai, defender, Mission, B.C.). I think that she was an unsung hero tonight. I thought she was outstanding, and to get that type of servicing. In fairness, I've always said special players do special things, and tonight, Sophie did that again. But didn't expect her to do it with her head, to be honest with you, but super glad that she knows how to finish. I kind of said to the team at halftime, if we score once, we are going to score more. So I just said be patient, don't panic, and let's start well, let's be on the front foot and not feel sorry for ourselves, but actually continue to attack".
  
AS IT HAPPENED
The Varsity Blues opened the scoring quickly with Cochrane finding the back of the net in the second minute of play. A Toronto throw-in from Hannah Chown found the near side of the Spartans' goal crease. TWU attempted to clear the ball, but Mah got a foot on it and put the Varsity Blues up 1-0. The lead would stand till the end of the opening 45 minutes. TWU had the better of the play in the opening half, outshooting Toronto 8-3 in total shots, and 7-2 in shots on goal to go with a 5-0 advantage in corner kicks.
 
The second half started with lots of pace, and TWU's pressure was finally rewarded in the 57th minute. The Spartans' fourth-year defender, Mya Bajpai (Mission, B.C.), broke open down the right side of the pitch, where she sent a high cross into the centre of the Varsity Blues penalty area. Crowther split the Toronto defenders to get a clean header and put the ball into the back of the Varsity Blues net to tie the match at 1-1.
 
Crowther got her second of the night when she found space after a quick turn about 10 meters outside the top of the box. Crowther sent a hard low shot off the inside of the right post to put the Spartans up 2-1 in the 64th minute. The Spartans Andrews got the insurance goal in the 89th minute. Crowther set up the goal with a corner kick to the near post, where Andrews was able to redirect it inside the near post to give TWU a 3-1 lead with one minute and added time remaining.
 
NOTABLE

• The Spartans outshot the Varsity Blues 14-11 in total shots and 11-5 in shots on goal
• TWU had an 8-2 edge in corner kicks
• Nike Players of the game: TWU's Sophie Crowther, TOR Julia Cochrane.
• This was the first time that the Spartans had played the Varsity Blues.
• This is the 11th time that the Spartans have advanced to the U SPORTS semifinals.
• In the other U SPORTS semifinal, the No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds will play the No. 5 Laval Rouge et Or.
• The Spartans advanced to the U SPORTS championship as the Canada West finalists after a 2-0 loss in the Canada West Gold Medal match. The Spartans advanced to the Canada West championship match with a 1-0 win over the Calgary Dinos in the Canada West semifinal.

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as in the NAIA in track and field and cross country and as an independent team in men's rugby and women's and men's disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 33 Canada West team championships.

About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in U SPORTS. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.  
 
-TW-