The Trinity Western Spartans bid for history was denied.
Seeking to become the first Canadian women’s university soccer program to win three consecutive CIS national championships — as well as the first to win six Gladys Bean Memorial trophies — the Spartans lost 5-0 to the Laval Rouge et Or on Sunday afternoon in Quebec City.
The game was played at Laval’s Telus-Universite Laval Stadium.
“It’s a tough result, you (have) to give credit to Laval, they were excellent,” said Spartans coach Graham Roxburgh.
“We didn’t play very well today and it’s probably the part that we are most disappointed with.
“We didn’t give them a game. They were clinical and we knew that if we didn’t defend well, they had weapons and those weapons showed today.”
Laval was up 2-0 at the half with goals from Joelle Gosselin and Gabrielle Lapointe.
Gosselin added two more in the second half and Melissande Guy rounded out the scoring.
Both teams had seven shots on goal and opportunities to score but Laval’s Marie-Joelle Vandal stopped everything she faced.
“Twenty years, it’s a long time, but the feeling is incredible,” said Laval coach Helder Duarte.
“To win in that fashion, against the best team in the country, it’s fantastic.
“The girls peaked at the right time, they were extraordinary. I knew we were capable of playing well, but I also knew there were a lot of emotions that could play against us. We did everything we thought we had to do to get them ready, and it worked.”
Laval became the first-ever Quebec team to win the Gladys Bean Memorial trophy.
The Spartans had defeated the Ontario Institute of Technology Ridgebacks 4-1 in the quarter-finals and the Ottawa Gee-Gees 4-0 in the semifinals.
In the first game, Vanessa Kovacs had a pair of goals while in the second, Krista Gommeringer scored twice.
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Trinity Western’s Jessica King was named the top university player at last week’s CIS awards banquet in Quebec City.
King was also named a first-team all-Canadian, as was Jennifer Castillo.
Vanessa Kovacs was named a second-team all-Canadian.
