UBC Sports Information
VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds (8-2-3) welcomed a raucous crowd to Thunderbird Stadium for the annual Thunderstruck and put on a show with a 3-0 win over the UFV Cascades (4-5-4) on Friday evening.
Within a minute Jasmin Dhanda had already given the Thunderbirds a 1-0 lead and cemented her place in Canada West history books. With her lovely chip of the goalie the senior forward became the all-time leading scorer in Canada West history.
"Knowing when I got that goal that it actually happened, it's pretty exciting," Dhanda said. "Tomorrows a super big game, and I hope we come out like we did today. Right from the start if we push hard we'll be successful."
The win was an important step in the Thunderbirds' quest to acquire a home playoff game. A win tomorrow night could clinch home field advantage pending Victoria's result against UFV.
"I think tomorrow we just have to keep playing like we did tonight," UBC head coach Jesse Symons said. "Whoever we play we want to go out and compete. If we're on the road, we're on the road, and if we're at home, we're at home and our objective is to get to the Canada West finals again."
Dhanda's 14th of the season started the scoring off early, thanks to an assist from Meghan Douglas.
In the 39th minute Aman Shergill was able to get on the end of a through ball, controlled it around UFV keeper Emily Harold, only to see her following shot come off the post. It was a beautiful passage of play, but an unfortunate missed chance.
Shergill's efforts were finally rewarded in the 55th when she was taken down in the box and given a penalty shot. She fired the ball into the top right to make it 2-0.
UFV's Brittney Zacharuk stayed busy throughout the night putting in a tough shift of box to box work. Her in-swinging corner kick during the 65th found teammates in the box, almost giving way to the Cascades first goal of the game, but the ball was cleared by the Thunderbirds.
The Thunderbirds tallied their third goal of the night from a powerful shot by Shergill inside the box assisted by Danielle Steer in the 71st.
UBC will look to capture a home playoff game Saturday night when they take on Trinity Western at Thunderbird Stadium. UFV will travel to Victoria for a Saturday night clash against UVic.