2009 CIS women's soccer championship Spartans repeat as national champions

TORONTO (CIS) - The Trinity Western Spartans were crowned national champions for the second consecutive season as they defeated the Montreal Carabins 1-0 (4-2 in penalty kicks) in the gold-medal match of the 2009 CIS women's soccer championship at Varsity Centre, Sunday night.

Following two glorious saves by all-tournament goalkeeper Kristen Funk, the Spartans fifth shooter, first-year defender and fellow Calgary native Colleen Webber, sealed the victory as she sent her shot past a diving Sarah Thérien (Montreal) and into the back of the net. Funk had opened the scoring herself in the PK session.

With the win the 2009 Canada West champion Spartans improve their national championship all-time record to 10-1-1 and earn their third Gladys Bean memorial trophy in six years. They had also prevailed in penalty kicks in 2004, that time over McGill.

"Three in six years!" said Spartans head coach Graham Roxburgh. "It's pretty unbelievable! In fairness, we didn't play our best soccer this weekend but I think our hard work showed. It was tough playing against a team as good as Montreal."

Second-year midfielder Tessa Meyer (Surrey, B.C.) was named the CIS tournament most valuable player.

"I'm so honoured [and] we worked so hard as a team." said Meyer. "Our goalkeeper Kristin Funk is outstanding and to me she was the most valuable today. Just to be named that, I'm honoured and humbled because I worked hard and it's great to have."

This was the Carabins first appearance in a CIS final, earning their first national silver medal in school history. Montreal's only other CIS medal came at last year's tournament where they took bronze after a disappointing loss to the Brock Badgers in semi-final action.

Montreal outshot Trinity Western 15-8 throughout 120 minutes of action, however the Spartans recorded more solid scoring opportunities throughout the night with five shots on goal.

After a scoreless first half, 2009 CIS rookie of the year and tournament all-star Alicia Tesan had a good chance to open the scoring, however the Vancouver, B.C. native missed the wide open net, sending the ball over the cross bar in the 49th minute.

Montreal's best chance to score came in the 78th minute as the Carabins caught Funk out of her net, however the Spartans defensive line were there to keep the game scoreless.

Both teams posted solid defensive efforts throughout overtime as neither were able to create good scoring opportunities.

Funk, Melissa Mobilio (Coquitlam, B.C.), Meghan McKinnon (Langley, B.C.) and Webber were Trinity's four goal scorers in penalty kicks. Funk also stopped Montreal's third shooter, Chloë Sabourin, to put the Spartans up for good.

SCORING SUMMARY

TWU: 0-0-0-0:1 (4-2 PK)
MON: 0-0-0-0:0

First Half
No scoring

Second Half
No scoring

Overtime
No scoring

Penalty Kicks
TWU, Kirsten Funk, goal
MON, Véronique Maranda, missed
TWU, Melissa Mobilio, goal
MON, Catherine Delmas-Frenette, goal
TWU, Daniele Gerig, saved
MON, Cholë Sabourin, saved
TWU, Meghan McKinnon, goal
MON, Virginie Lévesque, goal
TWU, Colleen Webber, goal

Goalkeepers:
TWU: Kristen Funk (W, 0 GA, 2 saves, 120:00 mins)
MON: Sarah Thérien (L, 0 GA, 5 saves, 120:00 mins)

Shots: TWU 8, MON 15
Shots on Net: TWU 5, MON 2
Corners: TWU 2, MON 2
Offsides: TWU 0, MON 0
Fouls: TWU 17, MON 7
Yellow Cards: None
Red Cards: None

Players of the game:
TWU: Tessa Meyer
MON: Émile Mercier

TOURNAMENT ALL-STAR TEAM

Tournament MVP:
Tessa Meyer - Trinity Western

Tournament All-Stars:
Goalkeeper: Kristen Funk - Trinity Western
Defence: Émilie Mercier - Montreal
Defence: Chelsea Stang - UBC
Defence: Colleen Webber - Trinity Western
Defence: Mikyla Kay - Queen's
Midfield: Véronique Maranda - Montreal
Midfield: Tessa Meyer - Trinity Western
Midfield: Riley Filion - Queen's
Forward: Alicia Tesan - Trinity Western
Forward: Veronique Laverdière - Montreal
Forward: Daniela Gerig - Trinity Western

R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award:
UPEI Panthers