Different Season, Same Story ⚽️
(Rich Lam / UBC Thunderbirds)
Quick rundown: There’s dominance, and then there’s UBC women’s soccer.
The question facing every Canada West season since the start of the 2020s has been less about who’s going to hoist the Canada West title and more about who can take on UBC.
UBC has become the measuring stick in Canada West women’s soccer.
And this year is no different.
The Thunderbirds have started the season the same way they have for the past two years — undefeated. They are a perfect 6-0 through their first six games and have yet to suffer a Canada West regular-season loss since the 2023-24 regular season.
What’s even more impressive than their win total is their goals-against total.
This season, they have yet to allow a goal — something they haven’t done since Oct. 18, 2024, when they allowed one goal in their 6-1 victory over the University of the Fraser Valley.
UBC goalkeepers Emma Sparrow and Marilena Spagnolo are the only two keepers in the country with a perfect 1.000 save percentage. It’s a mark that Sparrow and last year’s graduating senior Dakota Beckett both achieved last season, continuing the program’s dominance between the posts.
The offensive attack has been just as impressive.
Last season, it was Ava Alexander igniting the Thunderbirds’ stat sheet. Before her, it was Jade-Taylor Ryan. This time, second-year Maddy Norman has been making her case for player of the year.
Through six games, Norman has:
Six goals — second in U SPORTS
Five assists — first in U SPORTS
11 points — first in U SPORTS
Norman leads an offense that is atop nearly every statistical category in the conference:
21 goals
3.50 goals per game
18 assists
60 points
123 shots
20.5 shots per game
If some of the greatest U SPORTS dynasties — Carleton men’s basketball, UBC women’s volleyball and Trinity Western men’s volleyball — have taught us anything, it’s that dominance quickly turns into legacy.
The Thunderbirds have won three of the past five Canada West titles and are, by all means, the favourite to win again this year.
Every year at the beginning of the season, the question of who will dethrone UBC is presented. Yet perhaps the bigger question is this: Are we witnessing the formation of one of the next great U SPORTS dynasties?