Carabins end T-Birds remarkable streak in snow-filled U SPORTS Championship Final

HAMILTON, Ont. – In a matchup between two teams who had gone undefeated all season, it was sure to be a shocking blow for the one who failed to win U SPORTS gold Sunday and unfortunately for the UBC Thunderbirds, they fell just short of completing a second straight perfect season, falling 2-1 to the Montreal Carabins in the national championship Final at Ron Joyce Stadium.

Trailing 2-0 late in the opening half, the T-Birds found a late goal from Sophie Harrison to get some steady wind in the blue and gold sails.

But the RSEQ champions Carabins played a solid defensive effort in the second 45, hanging on to the one goal lead until the final whistle at a snow filled McMaster University campus.

“To come back on a team that had only allowed one goal all season, it was going to be hard to score three,” said UBC head coach, Jesse Symons, following the ‘Birds’ first loss in 43 games. “I can’t say anything but good things about our program this year. Going 19-1 over the season and not allowing a goal in the regular season, having a 42-game win streak before this loss today, now it’s about starting that again. If next year we only win three games, hopefully it’s the quarter, semi and final at nationals when we host.”

Originally scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m. ET, the first snowstorm of the season proved to be a big one as the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas received more than 10 centimetres in the biggest early November accumulation in 56 years.

After a significant delay to clear the field, the game eventually got underway shortly after 7:30 p.m. with snow continuing to fall.

For the second straight game, the T-Birds conceded the first goal as Karine Vilain got the Carabins on the board in the 13th minute. A Montreal throw in was booted out of the box by UBC but Vilain pinched the ball and fired an arcing shot from 20 yards out.

The T-Birds also found themselves down 2-0 for the second time in as many games when the Carabins shocked the UBC faithful as Alexie Bellrose doubled Montreal’s lead just two minutes later.

Jeanne Even burst down the left side, sent the ball inside the area for Justine Lalande whose shot was blocked, only to have Bellrose launch yet another perfect strike that went off the underside of the crossbar and in.

UBC was able to quickly recompose themselves and soon began to own the majority of the ball. Sienna Gibson streaked through the box and fired a shot attempt just over the net in the 27th minute which was perhaps the best T-Birds chance of the first third of the game.

The ‘Birds nearly got one back in the 41st when Ella Sunde sent a cross in for Jayda Thompson, the hero of UBC’s semifinal win, sending a right foot shot just wide of the post.

UBC finally got the critical goal they were looking for late in the opening half when Canada West Rookie of the Year, Sophie Harrison, burst down the middle of the field and sent a curling shot toward Montreal keeper Anna Bianca Stevens-Cardin who at first looked poised to make the stop, but the ball slipped through her fingers and into the back of the net.

With the halftime whistle blowing little over a minute later, it was a critical momentum shift for the blue and gold with 45 minutes left in the final game of the season.

Despite pressing the entire second half while preventing Montreal from even attempting a shot on goal, the Carabins were able to hold out to secure their third program title and first since 2022.

“We kept the ball really well, we played really well, I thought we actually started well before the first goal,” Symons added. “They were able to get two great shots, that was their two shots on net and unfortunately they both went in and we weren’t able to get that second one today.

“The second half, it was impossible to play. There was an inch of snow on the field. We were able to get on the ball a lot, but with them on a low block and not much space to play in, it was hard to play with the ball skipping around everywhere. Unfortunately the weather didn’t help but we also probably didn’t create enough in the second half because of that to really get that second goal.”

Now that UBC’s incredible 42-game win streak has come to an end, the program will aim to start yet another impressive run in 2026, a season that concludes with the Thunderbirds hosting the next U SPORTS National Championship.