VANCOUVER – Trinity Western will play for the Canada West title for the 11th time in the last 12 seasons after beating Victoria 2-0 in the conference semifinals Thursday at Thunderbird Stadium. 

Charity Field (Vancouver) scored in the first half (43') and Olivia Kranjcec (Okotoks, Alta.) secured the win with a second-half penalty kick (75'), as the Spartans also earned a spot in the U SPORTS Championship tournament for the 13th time in the last 15 seasons. 

The Spartans will now play UBC in the CW final for the third year in a row on Friday at 7 p.m. (PT) at Thunderbird Stadium. The contest serves as something of a recent-memory rubber match, with TWU having won in 2021 and UBC having taken the victory in 2022. Friday's match will be streamed on www.canadawest.tv. 

The Spartans will be pursuing their 10th Canada West championship. 

QUOTABLE
Graham Roxburgh – Head Coach
"I'm super pleased with my group tonight. I thought UVIC gave us a really stiff test and it took us a while to settle down and get into a rhythm of passing. Our first goal late in the first half settled us down. In the second half, I thought we managed the game pretty well. They had one or two moments, but in the end, I thought we were in control in the second half and started finding better rhythm in our passing. Sierra Halldorson (Winnipeg) was outstanding in the midfield – not only winning the ball back and winning the 50-50 battles but also sending us on our way with lots of passes. Kranny and Tilly were outstanding and frankly our whole back line was outstanding. Sarah Bazille (Coquitlam, B.C.) had her best game since returning from injury. And Soph was Soph. We're excited that we get to extend our season another week and take a crack at winning a championship. It's always a privilege to be in a final and we'll give our best account of ourselves. 

"We know UBC are a good team, so we'll see what happens tomorrow. I think it's probably the same for them. Both teams want to win a final. Canada West is pretty prestigious to win. Sometimes that can be just as hard as winning nationals depending on the draw.
 
"I think, also, both of us probably have one eye on next week and protecting a few kids that are banged up. It'll be good, but credit to my team. We didn't start the season so well. I just said you have to keep believing in the process and they did. They've trained really well this week, so we're looking forward to having another week of our season."

AS IT HAPPENED 
It was an enthralling end-to-end encounter from start to finish, with Trinity Western edging the first half play and getting their reward from Field's opener two minutes before half time.
 
The game was still very much in the balance in the closing stages, but the Spartans got a penalty when Bryana Buttar (Abbotsford, B.C.) was sent flying in the box and Kranjcec drilled home a fantastic spot kick to give Trinity Western the victory.
 
The battle between two teams that have kept 14 clean sheets between them since Sept. 17 was always going to be a closely contested affair and defences were certainly on top for the early part of this one, dealing comfortably with everything thrown at them.
 
The first shot didn't come until the 24th minute, a high Sophie Crowther (New Westminster, B.C.) free kick, but slowly the Spartans were getting the greater foothold on the game.
 
After a couple of scrambles in the box, Trinity Western got the breakthrough with just two minutes of the first half remaining on a quick passing play that saw Sierra Halldorson (Winnipeg) thread the ball through to Crowther, who centred it to Field to fire home the opening goal.
 
The Vikes had their best chance to go in level in stoppage time when Ruby Nicholas sent a dangerous cross in from the right but it was just over the head of Sophie Murray.
 
The game continued at a breakneck pace after the restart, and although the Vikes enjoyed more of the second half possession, they failed to break down a resolute Spartans backline.
 
Crowther whizzed an effort narrowly past the far post in the 67th minute before Buttar was sent flying in a challenge with Murphy just inside the box. The referee took a long look before pointing to the spot and up stepped Kranjcec to bury the penalty and double the Spartans lead in the 76th minute.
 
Both sides pushed to add to the goals in the closing minutes, with the Vikes best chance coming from a Brianne McLeish effort in stoppage time, which Miller saved.
 
NOTABLE
•    The Spartans will be playing in their 16th Canada West final, owning a 9-6 record in conference finals. 
•    TWU has earned 17 conference medals since entering Canada West in 2001. 
•    In last week, the Spartans defeated the Calgary Dinos 2-1 (4-3PK) in the quarter-finals in Langley, B.C.

UP NEXT
The Spartans will play UBC in the Canada West final Friday at 7 p.m. (PT).

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby and disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 13 U SPORTS team championships and 32 Canada West team championships.

-TW-