Photo credit Martin Bazyl

TORONTO (CIS) – The Trinity Western Spartans notched a record-tying fifth national title with a 1-0 victory over the Montreal Carabins in the gold-medal final of the 27th CIS women’s soccer championship, Sunday evening at the University of Toronto’s Varsity Centre.

It marks the fifth time in program history, all in the past decade, that the Spartans have hoisted the Gladys Bean Trophy, and the second time they have defeated the Carabins at Varsity Centre for the title. The two teams met in the championship final the last time U of T hosted in 2009, when Trinity Western edged the Carabins 1-0 (4-2 PK) for the crown.

“Credit to Montreal, they defended extremely well,” said Graham Roxburgh, in his 15th season as the Spartans head coach. “They created a lot of problems for us that we were struggling to deal with. We knew it was going to take one chance and if we scored it might open things up a little bit.”

Third-year midfielder Vanessa Kovacs of North Delta, B.C., was one of five Spartans named to the tournament 11 and earned 2013 championship MVP honours.

“I’m speechless right now,” said Kovacs, a 2013 CIS all-Canadian. “Especially winning back-to-back it’s pretty fantastic right now. As soon as we started the quarter-final it was just one game at a time and every game we gave our all and it was just fantastic.”

“We think Vanessa is one of the best players in the country,” added Roxburg. “She’s just battled so hard through adversity and injuries and frustration and she just never quits. She’s the heart and soul of our midfield and she deserves everything she gets.”

Second-year forward Krista Gommeringer of Calgary scored the game’s lone goal, her third of the tournament, in the 59th minute as she received a cross from fifth-year forward Alicia Tesan of Vancouver and slid with a Montreal defender to kick it into the back of the net.

The CIS all-Canadian striker scored two goals in leading the Spartans to a 3-0 win over the OUA champion Laurier Golden Hawks in Thursday’s quarter-final match and shares the tournament lead in scoring with Laval’s Léa Chastenay-Joseph.

Trinity Western maintains a perfect 5-0 standing in national final appearances and ties UBC’s record of five CIS titles with the victory. Overall, the Canada West has claimed 15, which accounts for over half, while the AUS and OUA have earned the title five and seven times, respectively, in the 27-year history of the CIS women’s soccer championship.

In search of the RSEQ’s first women’s soccer national title, Montreal earns their third silver medal in as many CIS gold-medal match appearances, all in the last five seasons. The Quebec champions end their season with an outstanding 15-2-2 record.

“Even if we didn't get the good result, our players can be proud of their performance,” said Montreal head coach Kevin McConnell. “They played together as very united team, from the field to the bench. We reached our objective but some factors made the difference between a victory and a defeat. It's sad for our players who were playing their last university game but they will have the chance to taste a championship as alumni.”

The 2014 CIS women’s soccer championship is set for Nov. 6 to 9 at Laval University in Quebec City.

SCORING SUMMARY:
TWU 0-1: 1
MTL 0-0: 0

First Half
(no scoring)
 
Second Half
1. TWU Krista Gommeringer (3) (Alicia Tesan), 59th
 
Goalkeepers:
TWU: Rachel Bedek (W, 0 GA, 1 save, 90:00, 3-0)
MTL: Martine Julien (L, 1 GA, 1 save, 90:00, 2-1)

Team Stats
Shots: TWU 6, MTL 8
Shots on net: TWU 2, MTL 1
Corners: TWU 7, MTL 4
Offsides: TWU 1, MTL 0
Fouls: TWU 3, MTL 12
Yellow cards: MTL (Constance De Chantal Dumont)
Red cards: none

Players of the game:
TWU: Vanessa Kovacs
MTL: Laura Chénard

CHAMPIONSHIP AWARDS

Gunn Baldursson Memorial Award (Tournament MVP): Vanessa Kovacs – Trinity Western
R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award: Cape Breton Capers
 
Tournament All-Stars:
Goalkeeper: Rachel Bedek – Trinity Western
Defence: Shalla Kadima – Alberta 
Defence: Allison Bell-Davies – Cape Breton
Defence: Mélissa Gougeon – Montreal
Defence: Colleen Webber – Trinity Western
Midfield: Laura Kautz – Alberta
Midfield: Laura Chénard – Montréal
Midfield: Laurianne Garant-Saine – Montreal
Midfield: Vanessa Kovacs – Trinity Western
Midfield: Natalie Boyd – Trinity Western
Striker: Krista Gommeringer – Trinity Western

SCHEDULE & RESULTS

Thursday, Nov. 7
11:00 Quarter-final 1: Montreal 2, Western 1
13:30 Quarter-final 2: Alberta 1, Laval 0
16:30 Quarter-final 3: Trinity Western 3, Wilfrid Laurier 0
19:00 Quarter-final 4: Cape Breton 1, Toronto 0

Friday, Nov. 8
13:30 Consolation 1: Laval 2, Western 0
16:30 Consolation 2: Toronto 2, Wilfrid Laurier 1

Saturday, Nov. 9
13:30 Semifinal 1: Montreal 2, Alberta 0
16:30 Semifinal 2: Trinity Western 1, Cape Breton 0

Sunday, Nov. 10
11:00 5th-place game: Toronto 2, Laval 1
13:30 Bronze medal: Alberta 1, Cape Breton 0
16:30 Championship final: Trinity Western 1, Montreal 0

About Canadian Interuniversity Sport

Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, 11,000 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 55 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:

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