Richmond athletes are delivering for their respective university teams as the fall season reaches the finish line.
Gabby Jayme concluded her decorated field hockey career at UBC in grand style — helping the Thunderbirds win their sixth consecutive national championship in Toronto.
The Little Flower Academy graduate scored in the 61st minute to put her team on even terms as UBC went on to post a 2-1 victory in a shootout over the Victoria Vikes. The result added to the Thunderbirds’ growing record of 18 national titles.
The Vikes’ roster features McMath graduate Delany Booker — a third-year forward. It was Victoria’s 12th national silver medal in the program’s history.
Meanwhile on the soccer pitch, Hugh Boyd graduates Amelia Crawford and Emma Kallner have helped the Thunderbirds move one step closer to defending their national title.
UBC re-captured the Canada West Championship last weekend in Langley, knocking off host Trinity Western University 3-0 in the final.
Crawford, a second-year forward, scored what proved to be the winning goal in the 26th minute. It was the Fusion F.C. (B.C. Premier Soccer League) product’s fifth goal of the campaign which is tied for third on the team.
Kallner, a third-year defender, has been a mainstay on the Thunderbirds’ backline. The BCPSL Coastal F.C. graduate has started in all 19 games she has dressed for this season.
The Thunderbirds are now in Wolfville, Nova Scotia where they are the top seed for the 30th CIS national championship. UBC was scheduled to open play on Thursday night against No. 8 Acadia. The final goes on Sunday afternoon.
Across town at Burnaby Mountain, forward Riley Pang is wrapping up his impressive first season with the Simon Fraser University men’s soccer team.
The Steveston-London graduate was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Freshman of the Year after scoring four goals for the 14-1-2 Clan. Pang also was an honourable mention for the All-Conference Team.
SFU has already earned GNAC honours and has been made the No. 1 seed in the West Region for the NCAA Division Two National Tournament. The Clan will face the winner of No. 4 Sonoma State and No. 5 Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday.
The women’s basketball season is just getting started and Tia Tsang has wasted little time in making an impact with SFU.
The freshman guard from McRoberts scored 14 points in just 17 minutes of action to help the Clan cap a three-game toad trip to Anaheim with a 72-67 win over the Colorado Mines. Tsang went a sizzling 4-for-5 from three-point range. She also had 11 points in an 84-77 loss to Cal Baptist.
Tsang is part of an impressive 2020 recruiting class that also includes former McMath star Jessica Jones.
