A trio of players from Richmond have helped the UBC Thunderbirds capture their sixth CIS national women’s soccer championship in school history.
The host Thunderbirds capped a memorable 2015 campaign with 3-0 win over conference rival Trinity Western Spartans on Sunday night. It was UBC’s first appearance at the nationals since 2010 after the Point Grey school lost just once in 24 games (19-1-3).
The T-Birds’ roster featured fourth-year forward Amrit Berar, sophomore defender Emma Kallner and freshman forward Amelia Crawford.
The breakthrough season was particularly satisfying for Berar who has established herself in the starting 11 and one of the veteran leaders on the team.
She enjoyed plenty of success in her youth career, playing on one of the most successful teams in the history of the Richmond Girls Soccer Association — the Red Hot Selects.
Berar was also a fixture in the provincial team program before taking her career to UBC where she is working towards her Bachelor’s of Commerce degree at the Sauder School of Business.
The McNair graduate finished tied for second in team scoring with six goals and fourth overall in points with 13. She dedicated the championship win to her grandfather who passed away earlier in the season.
“He has been in my heart, mind, and soul game in and game out,” said Berar. “Winning the national championship after all the years of hard work has been very fulfilling. Our coach, Marisa (Kovacs) did an excellent job in understanding our player’s personalities and she connected the link.
“It has been a story tale ending. I’d like to thank my family and friends for their endless amount of support over the years.”
Kallner made four starts this season and is poised to have a more prominent role next season with players graduating. Crawford showed her promise in limited minutes, scoring three goals and adding one assist. Both girls graduated from Hugh Boyd.
Meanwhile, the CIS Nationals was also a homecoming of sorts for Emma Partridge.
The McMath graduate is in her second season at the University of Calgary. She helped the Dinos make just their third trip to nationals in school history where they fell out of medal contention after a loss to Queen’s in penalty kicks.
Partridge is one of three players on the Calgary roster recruited from the Total Soccer Systems (TSS) elite girls program two years ago, joining midfielder Kaely Biring and defender Remi Guindon.
Partridge made eight starts this season in 16 games and came off the bench in Calgary’s 1-0 loss to UBC to open the nationals.
On the men’s side, Richmond natives Jacob Quaill and Jason Roberts helped the host Thunderbirds coming away from nationals with a bronze medal.
Quaill is a third-year defender who made three starts this season, Roberts is a freshman goalkeeper who spent much of the campaign backing up Chad Bush. Both graduated from McMath.
