The University of the Fraser Valley women's soccer team put a mighty scare into the nation's top-ranked team, but the Trinity Western Spartans were able to fend off the Cascades' upset bid and prevail 1-0 in overtime on Saturday evening in Langley.

Rachel Hutchinson's goal in the 107th minute was the difference in the Canada West quarter-final clash between local rivals, sending the Spartans on to the Final Four while ending the Cascades' 2018 campaign.

"It's not the time of year for moral victories, so we're gutted to have our season end tonight," UFV head coach Rob Giesbrecht said.

"It's a scary game when you're fending off that team, because they're pretty loaded. But I'm so proud of my team and their progress."

The Spartans got things started quickly, nearly opening the scoring in the first minute when Kat Harvey had a point-blank chance that was stopped by the Cascades' Joven Sandhu. It was a sign of things to come, as UFV's sophomore goalkeeper would go on to have an outstanding performance.

Shortly thereafter, UFV's Harneet Dadrao put an in-tight shot just wide of the TWU net for what was arguably the visitors' best chance of the opening half.

TWU had a number of chances throughout the opening 45 minutes, including back-to-back shots on goal from Jenaya Robertson in the 20th minute, but both were stopped by Sandhu.
The Spartans outshot the Cascades 8-2 and had a 5-1 edge in shots on goal in the first half but Sandhu was up to the task on several occasions, keeping the game scoreless.

Both teams had chances in the second half, with the Cascades showing more go-forward early on, forcing Rachel Sydor to make a few key saves. At the other end of the park, the Spartans came close on more than one occasion, including an early chance that sliced through the middle of the box off the foot of Seina Kashima but the Spartans couldn't get on the end of it.

In the 68th minute, the Cascades nearly found a loose ball just a few yards off the goal line, but a sliding Kat Chin knocked the ball to safety for the Spartans.

The Cascades' Jashan Sandhar had a wonderful chance in the 86th minute, zipping down the right side of the field and breaking in on Sydor, but she sent her shot just wide of the left post.
Fraser Valley continued to push for the winner in the late stages, finishing the second half tied 2-2 in shots on goal.

Sandhu was at her best in overtime, holding TWU off the board until Hutchinson finally broke through in the early stages of the second OT. She took a pass from Kashima on the right flank and slotted it home to the low left corner.

The victory marked a bit of déjà vu, as it was also Hutchinson scoring the lone goal in TWU's quarter-final win over UFV last year.

Sandhu finished with 11 saves, including several of the highlight-reel variety, and was named the Cascades' player of the game.

"It was just a lot of positive play (in the second half and OT), and that's something we need to work on – turning positive play into quality chances," Giesbrecht said.

"We're a young team, and throughout this season, week by week we've put the work in and girls have started believing more and more in themselves. We're starting to get results against good teams, and we were close tonight against the No. 1 team in the country. It's exciting for the future because of our youth."
- with files from Mark Janzen, TWU Athletics