By Jeremy Laurie (UBC Sports Information Assistant)

VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds women's soccer team faced off against an undefeated Alberta Pandas for Friday night's home opener at Thunderbird Stadium. While Alberta was able to defend against the Thunderbirds' steady offensive pressure throughout the first half, two second-half goals resulted in a decisive UBC victory. With the win, UBC is now 3-1-0 in conference, and 5-1-1 overall, while Alberta is now 1-1-1 and 5-2-1.

There was plenty to prove on the field as Friday night's match was the only time the two teams will face off in the 2015-16 regular season. Alberta, seeking to avoid their first loss of the season, was up against a Thunderbirds team eager to bounce back from their 2-1 loss against the Fraser Valley Cascades last Saturday night.

A pair of stellar saves from Alberta goalkeeper Laura Morrison early in the first half helped keep the game scoreless until halftime.

UBC's Nicole Sydor (Delta, B.C), who substituted for Shayla Chorney (Vancouver) at the half, opened the scoring in the 49th minute after a great cross from Taylor Shannik (Delta, B.C.). The goal was Sydor's first of the season.

The Thunderbirds kept the pressure on with four shots in the two minutes following Sydor's goal, but were repeatedly denied by Alberta's Morrison.

UBC got an insurance marker in the 74th minute on a strange play. Standing in the middle of the box, rookie forward Amelia Crawford (Richmond, B.C.) went up to head a cross from Meghan Douglas (North Vancouver), only to have the ball bounce off her body towards Morrison. The Alberta goalie, looking to push the play up the field, took her eye off the ball and had it bounce past her into the goal. It was Crawford's first-ever goal in Canada West and CIS regular season play, as well as Douglas' first assist.

Thunderbirds' head coach Marisa Kovacs felt the game was exciting: "We wanted to have a good showing at home and I think we did that."

Although Kovacs felt the team plateaued slightly in the first half, she believes they "showed a lot of energy in the second half. We bounced back well from our loss to Fraser Valley last week."

Both teams won't have much time to rest as they are set to play matches tomorrow night. The Pandas will take on the Victoria Vikes (1-2-1) while the Thunderbirds face the UNBC Timberwolves (0-2-1) for their second home game of the season at Thunderbird Stadium. Both games commence at 7 p.m. PT.

IMAGE CREDIT: Wilson Wong/UBC Thunderbirds