CALGARY – Rachel Barlow's goal in the 68th minute lifted the University of Calgary Dinos to a thrilling 3-2 victory over the No. 1-ranked UBC Thunderbirds on Sunday afternoon at Dinosaur Field.
In their first meeting since the 2019 national final, the Dinos and T-Birds traded leads before Barlow's fourth of the season put Calgary back in front for good.
The Dinos get back in the win column and improve their record to 5-2-1 on the season, while the setback sees UBC drop to 8-1-0 in 2022.
"It's pretty amazing," shared Barlow. "We were tied, and we really wanted to seal the deal and keep going for the rest of the game."
Calgary played a clinical first 20 minutes, finding the holes and sending beautiful threw balls to their wingers but were unable to find the back of the net.
In the 22nd minute, UBC responded with a threw ball down the middle and deflection by Nisa Reehal to her teammate Danielle Steer, who just had to place the ball into the net.
But the Dinos' efforts would not be wasted scoring two goals within two minutes.
The first in the 34th minute started from a corner kick that was headed into the front of the net where a scramble for the ball happened. Eventually, Calgary forward
Erica Mysko would find the ball and put it past UBC goalie Sarah Johns.
The second goal was generated from a free kick by Barlow, where she split the Thunderbirds' wall to find
Jayden Berg who finished the play.
The Thunderbirds started the second half strong, evening the score in the 50th minute with Reehal capitalizing on a rebound.
In the 68th minute, Calgary would capitalize on a turnover by UBC as Barlow drove the ball past the UBC netminder.
The Thunderbirds didn't go down without a fight, finding the back of the net late, but the play was called back for interfering with Dinos goalkeeper
Caley Leask.
Leask notched three saves in the win, while Johns had five.
The Dinos are back in action Friday, Sept. 30 when they take Trinity Western in Langley, B.C. The Thunderbirds' next game is also on Friday against the UBC Okanagan Heat.
