As hundreds of Dalhousie University fans piled into Wickwire field, eighth seed Dalhousie hoped to create a memorable upset over reigning champions University of British Columbia.
However after 63 minutes with no score, UBC found the back of the net. The Thunderbirds added three more goals, downing the hosts of the tournament 4-0. Regardless of the loss, keeping the eventual champions of the tournament scoreless for most of the game leaves a mark of success for the underdog Tigers.
Elise Evans, the leading scorer for Dalhousie and a first-team all star in Atlantic University Sport (AUS) credited their preparation for their early success.
“Because we knew the competition we were up against,” Evans said, “it was a lot of video review, a lot of tactical prep.”
Despite the upsetting loss, fans filling the stands of Wickwire Field created a memorable moment for the team. Other Dal athletes made up much of the cheering for the Tigers as the women’s hockey team even wore their jerseys with their helmets and gloves on.
Taylor Heard, who played her last games in the black and gold this weekend said over her four years at Dalhousie, she’d never seen a crowd like this.
“You’re going to remember how you played, but you’re not always going to remember the scoreline. I’m going to remember that feeling of having the whole school behind us,” said Heard.
Heard wanted to give a huge thank you from the team to all members of Dal athletics and others who came out to support.
“We talked the whole week about how the crowd would be our 12th player,” Heard said.
Quarterfinal action
Paris Axam started the most dangerous chance for the Tigers by putting a ball down the line to Heard who knocked it off the defender for a corner goal. Meghan Johnston found Evans in front of the net but her header went straight to UBC’s keeper.
The Thunderbirds thought they had scored the first goal of the game but the lines official indicated an offside.
As the game progressed British Columbia came into their own off the back of Jayda Thompson whose speed proved to be too much as she tallied a goal and three shots.
Despite this, Dalhousie was able to keep the score 0-0 until the 63rd minute where Sienna Gibson sniped the ball past Brianne MacDonald from the top of the box.
Axam said because they were an outlier team at the tournament — losing in the quarterfinal of the AUS playoff — that keeping UBC scoreless for 63 minutes was the team proving they belonged.
UBC’s Nisa Reehal followed with another goal when she crossed the ball over to Jade Taylor-Ryan who knocked it into the back of the net. Thompson put the game out of reach as she calmly, in front of MacDonald, put it through the keeper’s legs.
Then defenceman Sophia Ferreira was found on a free kick from the centre of the field, and she put the ball into the net for the final time.
Fifth place game
Because of the loss, Dal was set to play Nipissing University, who were coming off a penalty shootout loss against Cape Breton University.
Dal’s game against Nipissing was a defensive oriented game where both teams only tallied three shots each. However, Heard said she felt like they deserved to win the game.
“We had lots of opportunities to put it away in regular time, just couldn’t do that,” said Heard.
Ninety minutes wasn’t enough for the teams to break through as they went straight into a penalty shootout.
After four rounds of the penalty shootout, both teams had missed a kick and the rest had scored, which set up a crucial fifth round.
With all the pressure on her, Dal’s Sally Steinberg missed wide right. Nipissing’s Avery Cafaro shot the ball right at MacDonald, but the ball bounced off the keeper and trickled into the net.
Heartbreak for the Tigers.
Evans said there was a lot of emotion from the team, not necessarily from losing the game but from the season being over.
For Heard’s final game it was a crushing way to lose. The striker said there were lots of tears, but she remained positive about the future of the program.
“Unfortunately, you hate to lose like that,” Heard said. “But from an outside perspective, I know they are going to be able to take this and use it as momentum.”
Axam echoed Heard, as with one year left of her eligibility, she hopes next year they make it to nationals and come home with some hardware.
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