VICTORIA – The University of Victoria Vikes women's soccer team had their CIS championship opportunities taken from them after a heart-breaking loss on home turf to the Trinity Western Spartans in the Canada West semifinal on Nov. 2. Spartans fifth-year senior Caitlin Haines scored in the final half of extra time, lifting her squad to a come-from-behind 2-1 win over the UVic Vikes at Centennial Stadium.
 
With the win, the Spartans qualify for the CIS Nationals in Toronto beginning on Thursday. They will face Alberta in the Canada West championship game on Saturday night, a game that will be important for CIS national seeding, while UVic meets UBC for the bronze.
 
"(Making nationals was) something we set out for from last year. I think we have an amazing team this year," Haines said. "I'm a fifth-year and our goal was just to play united."
 
"Going into the second half, I was really nervous. I was so happy for Jen Castillo to score. I actually started to cry," Haines said. "We are, together, a strong team. It takes every person on our team to do their job. I mean, I cannot ask for anything better."

The second semifinal started late due to the necessity of extra time in Alberta's 2-1 win over the UBC Thunderbirds in the other semifinal. By the start of the second half, the rain created slippery playing conditions for both sides.
 
UVic had some early chances with a free-kick from Brigitte Greig (Tofino, B.C.) who pegged the crossbar around 15 minutes into the first half.

It was a physical opening half, with six fouls called against the Spartans and three against the Vikes.

UVic took the lead midway through the second half with a crushing shot from midfielder Cassie Dennis (Calgary) after a nice cross coming from freshman Emma Greig (Tofino, B.C.). 

The Spartans tied it up in the 85th minute when senior defender Jennifer Castillo (Surrey, B.C.) cracked a shot from outside the 18-yard box, leaving Vikes keeper Tanya Jones (North Saanich, B.C.) without hope of a save. 

The winning goal for the Spartans came in the 109th minute when Haines (New Westminster, B.C.) capitalized on a slip from the Vikes keeper at the top of the six. The fifth-year education student entered the game in the 67th minute, bringing home the win with her first goal of the post-season. 
 
"Our coach (Graham Roxburgh) told me to just keep running to the net," Haines said.

Suspense lasted into the last minute of the overtime when Haines received a yellow-card to give the Vikes a chance to tie the game late. Brigitte Greig's shot sailed wide on the opportunity to equal the score with free kick at the top of the 18-yard box. 

Trinity Western will play Alberta in the Canada West championships on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. UVic will face-off against rivals UBC in the bronze-medal game at 5:00 p.m. the same day.

"We knew UVic would be a tough game," Haines said. "We have history from previous years and even the first game this year we lost to them, so we knew this wasn't going to be an easy game."
 
"We were so excited to play a great team in the end, and both teams played well."
 
SCORING SUMMARY:

                  1    2    OT1    OT2   F
TWU          0    1     0         1    - 2
UVIC         0     1     0         0    - 1

TWU - Jennifer Castillo (84), Caitlin Haines (109);
UVIC - Cassie Dennis (61).