The University of the Fraser Valley women's soccer team snapped the UBC Thunderbirds' epic season-opening shutout streak, but the T-Birds ultimately prevailed, hanging on for a 2-1 win Sunday afternoon at Rotary Stadium.

The U SPORTS No. 4-ranked Thunderbirds – the reigning national champs – had opened the Canada West campaign with five straight clean sheets. Halle McCambley ruined that streak in the 78th minute on behalf of the Cascades (0-4-2), but the Thunderbirds (6-0-0) emerged victorious thanks to earlier goals from Danielle Steer and Emma Hooten.

"It was definitely a better game to watch, in comparison to Friday," Cascades assistant coach Shelby Beck said, alluding to her team's 2-0 loss in the first game of the weekend. 

"We came out and were able to keep more possession, which was nice to see. Obviously it was great to get our first goal and get that momentum, it's just too bad it was later in the game and we didn't finish our chances earlier. If we can get that push going forward, we'll be able to stay in games longer and hopefully come out with a win."

???? | "I think this will show we can score and we can finish our chances."

-- Jasdeep Dhaliwal on the silver linings from Cascades WSOC's 2-1 loss to UBC this afternoon pic.twitter.com/ujFENTOBnP

— UFV Cascades (@UFVCascades) October 4, 2021

The Cascades held a distinct territorial advantage over the first 25 minutes but were unable to generate a truly clean look at goal. Jashan Sandhar and Jiya Kaila both had several promising runs down the right flank, and on one of those occasions, Kaila squared the ball for Brittany Costa, but her shot was easily handled by UBC goalkeeper Emily Moore.

The Thunderbirds began to gain traction as the half wore on. Steer forced an outstanding leaping save from Cascades keeper Joven Sandhu in the 37th minute, and in the dying moments of the half, the UBC veteran scored the ice-breaker. 

Sandhu dove to her right to make an acrobatic save on Janika Sangha's initial shot, but as the Cascades tried to clear the ball off the line, Steer was there to battle her way to the ball and knock it in. 

The T-Birds went up 2-0 in the 71st – Sophia Ferreira's free kick crashed into the wall of Cascade defenders, but the ball ricocheted right to Hooten, and her long-distance strike was pure, finding the top right corner.

Just six minutes later, McCambley gave the home fans reason to cheer. Kaila, from the right wing, laid the ball off to Jessica Fennell, and her cross found McCambley deep in the box. The sophomore midfielder volleyed it home from close range to snap the T-Birds' shutout streak at 528 minutes.
 

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"It definitely brought the energy up after we got that goal, for sure," Beck noted. "Going forward, we need to build off of that. 

"The girls are frustrated they didn't win, but they've got something to push forward with going into next weekend."

The Cascades are back in action next weekend on the road, visiting the Thompson Rivers WolfPack in Kamloops, Oct. 8-9.