KELOWNA, B.C. – On a night in which they honoured their graduating seniors, the UBC Okanagan Heat women's soccer team gave the U SPORTS No. 1-ranked UBC Thunderbirds all they could handle but came out on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline.
 
Through the opening 30 minutes of the match, the Heat were the better team on the pitch as they dominated possession and were in the UBC half for much of the time. The Heat's best opportunity to score came in the 12^th minute as the team's leading scorer, Eleni Georgacacos of Calgary, fired a shot from the top of the box but it was denied by UBC keeper Dakota Beckett of Langley, B.C.
 
An early pair of substitutions by the Thunderbirds in the 31^st minute turned the tied for the visitors as they began to push deeper into the Heat's half. UBC was able to generate a pair of shots on goal before halftime but UBCO keeper Talia Gagnon of Dieppe, N.B., was solid in net and kept the game scoreless through 45 minutes.
 
UBCO would continue to control possession in the early part of the second half and nearly got the breakthrough in the 60^th minute. A ball in from Abigail Taneda of West Kelowna, B.C., found the head of Megan Sun of Langley, B.C. Her shot beat Beckett but not the post and the game remained scoreless.
 
UBC continued to push, forcing Gagnon into a number of difficult stops but they would eventually breakthrough in the 80^th minute. Nisa Reehal of New Westminster, B.C., took a pass from Sienna Gibson of Vancouver, and she found the back of the net to put the visitors ahead 1-0.
 
The Heat would try to push forward for the remainder of the match, but were unable to get a quality chance on goal as they dropped a fourth-straight one-goal decision to their sister-school rivals.
 
Gagnon would finish the match with nine saves, matching her career best while Beckett earned the clean sheet making one stop.
 
Prior to kickoff, the Heat recognized forward Alyssa Scott of North Vancouver, B.C., along with defenders Holly Tarves of North Vancouver, B.C., and Sophie Campbell of Surrey, B.C., who were all playing their final regular season game with UBCO.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
D Sophie Campbell – UBCO
Playing in her final regular season home game, the fourth-year defender was outstanding on the Heat backline, limiting UBC's scoring opportunities and setting up the Heat's offence time and time again.
 
MF Jade Taylor-Ryan – UBC
One of the 31^st minute subs by the Thunderbirds, the native of Ottawa, was a force up top for UBC and finished the match with four shots, including three on goal.
 
WHERE THEY STAND
With the loss, the Heat (4-4-1) drop back to .500 as they remain on 13 points for the season. Meanwhile, the Thunderbirds (8-0-0) remain perfect as they top the Pacific division with 24 points.
 
UP NEXT
The Heat will open up a five-game road trip to wrap up their regular season on Friday, October 4 as they take on the U SPORTS No. 6-ranked Trinity Western Spartans. Kickoff in Langley, B.C., is set for 5 p.m. and the game can be seen live on CanadaWest.tv.