BC Weekend Wrap: Vancouver’s Impact at Women’s Hockey Worlds, and BC’s Championship-Filled U Sports Weekend

At Thunderbird Stadium on Friday night, the Thunderbirds claimed both Canada West championships in men’s and women’s soccer, earning the double for the second time in three seasons. On the women’s side, Sienna Gibson and Bailey Doerksen scored two unanswered goals after Thompson Rivers Wolfpack star Esi Luffo netted a standout free-kick to level the score at 1-1 after Jayde Thompson’s opener. 

And on the men’s side, a back-and-forth game against the Alberta Golden Bears ended 3-2 in UBC’s favour, with strikes from Brennan Fuerst, Lucas Dasovic and Henri Godbout to claim a 24th Canada West banner in the men’s programme’s history. 

The success didn’t stop there, either. A day later on the same field, the Thunderbirds advanced to the Canada West Hardy Cup championship for the first time since 2023 with a 30-23 win over the Manitoba Bisons, and will now host the Regina Rams, hoping to advance to the Uteck Bowl on the road to the Vanier Cup. 

Away from campus, UBC also earned national honours. In Waterloo, Ont., the Thunderbirds claimed gold at the Field Hockey Canada U Sports national championship, beating the Toronto Varsity Blues 2-1 in the final to claim their first national banner since 2017, 20th in programme history and the first under head coach Geoff Matthews. 

Meanwhile, the Thunderbirds women’s rugby team couldn't add a fourth straight U Sports national title, falling to the Victoria Vikes 17-0 in the final to claim their first title in programme history. 

Vancouver Whitecaps Make History as City’s Final Title Hope

The Vancouver Whitecaps made history on Saturday with a 2-0 win over CF Montreal, finishing their 2026 season with a club-record 64 points, while Jesper Sørensen broke the MLS record for most points by a head coach in his first two years. Now, the club stands as Vancouver’s only chance at a top-tier professional title in 2025, after the BC Lions fell in their CFL Grey Cup quarterfinal against the Edmonton Elks later Saturday.

The Whitecaps will now have two weeks off before taking on their first-round best-of-three series against the Seattle Sounders or Real Salt Lake, beginning with Game 1 at BC Place on Nov. 22. Should they advance from there, it’s one of the San Jose Earthquakes or Houston Dynamo in a one-game Western Conference semifinal at BC Place. 

However, the entire group won’t get three weeks of rest. The international break sees midfielder Andrés Cubas set for a challenging 180 minutes with Paraguay, while Ralph Priso joins Canada, Tate Johnson joins the USA U23s, and Édier Ocampo appears set to represent Colombia. 

Dive into more on the Whitecaps here

Cross-Country Titles Awarded in Abbotsford

BC’s top high school cross-country athletes took on the trails in Abbotsford this weekend for the BC School Sports Championships, narrowly avoiding massive storms which hit the Fraser Valley Saturday night. 

Continuing their string of dominant years at the A level, Revelstoke Secondary claimed the girls' title, while the boys' A title went to Nanaimo Christian. Glenlyon Norfolk won the girls' AA title, and Highland Secondary took the boys' AA title. Claremont won the boys' AAA title, led by Sebastian Damian and Myles Jones in the top 10 of the race, while the girls' side saw Oak Bay take home the banner, led by Claire Babiuk, who won the girls' AAA race by one minute and 49 seconds. 

BC Lions, Vancouver Rise Seasons End

The Vancouver Rise and BC Lions' championship hopes ended this weekend, with the Rise failing to defend their Northern Super League title after last year’s inaugural season triumph. After falling 3-0 at home in the first leg of the semifinal, the Rise battled to a 2-2 draw against the Montreal Rose in Laval, but ultimately fell short of a full comeback, as Montreal advanced to take on AFC Toronto in the Ottawa-hosted final next weekend. 

On the gridiron, Lions star quarterback Nathan Rourke struggled to find his rhythm against the Edmonton Elks, as the Leos fell in the CFL’s West Final in Edmonton 28-16 in what was their final game on a 110-yard field, before next year’s switch to 100-yard dimensions. To add insult to injury for Vancouver sports fans, Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo was front row to see the Edmonton Oilers hand the Vancouver Canucks yet another loss within hours of advancing to the Grey Cup.