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On to the playoffs

Dramatic final weekend lands UNBC women’s soccer team in Canada West postseason

The UNBC Timberwolves got the help they needed on the U Sports women’s soccer pitch in Edmonton, then got down to business on their own field at Masich Place Stadium Sunday to barge their way into the Canada West conference playoffs.
Rookie forward Sofia Jones scored the only goal of the game, a 25-yard strike from the middle of the field, and the T-wolves hung on to defeat the UBC Okanagan Heat 1-0.
UNBC (3-8-3) finished sixth in the Pacific Division, just as it did last year, and will travel to Winnipeg for a single-elimination playoff game against the Manitoba Bisons (6-5-3), who placed third in the Prairie Division.
“We are finally happy because we finally got the results we were working for all season,” said UNBC’s Kylie Erb, 22, who along with midfielder Madison Emmond played the last home game of her five-year career with the T-wolves.
“It’s a good way to end for us seniors because now we have another week with our team and it’s a good way to leave our crowd because they’re so supportive. They’re a very good team, they play a lot like us and they possessed the ball a lot today but we still figured out a way to get around them.”
UNBC started the weekend in eighth place, chasing UBCO and the Thompson Rivers WolfPack for the sixth and final playoff spot. The T-wolves stayed alive by defeating TRU 2-0 on Friday, while the Grant MacEwan Griffins did them a favour earlier in the day by beating the Heat 4-1.
The Griffins helped UNBC again Sunday when they came back to tie the WolfPack 1-1.
“Everything went our way,” said T-wolves head coach Neil Sedgwick. “I’m proud of the way girls played, they competed well against two good teams. UBCO, in the future, is going to be at the top of the table.
“Sofia putting that goal away was great. She didn’t have many chances today but when she had that clear one she did what she had to do. I got it wrong as a coach in the beginning and for about 35 minutes we did a lot of chasing. But we made a couple of changes (in strategy) which helped us late in the first half and that led into the second half. The energy was good and we started to get more of the ball and we looked more like the team we have been during the season.”  
The T-wolves knew the Griffins-WolfPack outcome as they walked off the field at halftime, still locked in a scoreless draw.
Jones finished her first U Sports season with four goals and two assists and the T-wolves lost just once in games in which the California native scored. She’d gone seven games without a goal heading into Sunday’s contest.
That came in the 60th minute, the first real threat faced by Heat goalie Emma Terrillon since the early stages of the game. Paige Payne forced a turnover and got the ball to Jones and she wasted no time launching a high shot into the open side of the net.
“Paige did an amazing job, she gave me the ball right in the front of the net,” said Jones. “I’m so excited to make the playoffs. It’s a privilege to be on this team.”
Although the shots on goal were pretty much even, a 7-6 edge for the Heat, UBCO had a wide advantage in ball possession in both halves and forced UNBC goalie Brooke Molby out of her comfort zone on several occasions. Maddy Ellis’s shot off a corner kick was stopped by Molby 22 minutes in and not long after that Aurora Gardiner’s high shot hit the crossbar. Molby came up with one of her best stops in the 80th minute, diving to deflect a long-range howitzer from Ellis. Erica Lampert also came close with a shot that skipped off the turf.
“I’m very proud of the way we played – we didn’t get the result but we showed a lot heart and that’s what matters going forward,” said Lampert, 19, a second-year Heat defender who spent the first eight years of her life in Prince George. “We have a bright future, we just have to keep our heads up and keep playing the way we did. We had our chances but didn’t capitalize. UNBC played well and we’ll be rooting for them as they go forward in the playoffs.”