VANCOUVER – The most successful season in the Thompson Rivers WolfPack women's soccer team's Canada West history came to end in Vancouver Saturday night.

Taking on the Calgary Dinos in the Canada West Bronze Medal match, TRU was unable to keep their magical playoff run going in a 3-0 loss.

"To be honest, the 120 minutes [last night] was a heartbreaker, both emotionally and physically," Pennington said after the match. "We don't have a ton of depth, as we know, and I think we just came up a bit short in the end. But I couldn't be more proud of them. I just said to them rather than being disappointed about not getting to where we wanted to get to, we should be really proud of finishing in the top four of the toughest conference in the country.
 
"We're still a very young program. It's kind of six and seven rookies playing games. Hopefully the only way is up for this program. I'm disappointed for the seniors not to get a kick of the can at nationals, but it's the first time they've played in playoffs, so I feel we need to celebrate this and not the initial disappointment of not getting there."

Picked to finish 11th in the conference in the Canada West pre-season Coaches Poll, the WolfPack put together a program-best regular season mark of 6-6-2. That record saw them qualify for the playoffs for just the second time in program history.

TRU then went on to set more program firsts in the playoffs. A shootout win over the UVic Vikes was the first postseason victory for the 'Pack and another shootout win – this time over the No. 1 Prairie Division team, the Mount Royal Cougars – sent the WolfPack all the way to the Canada West Final four.

After an extra time loss last night to the Trinity Western Spartans in the semifinal, TRU couldn't get a foothold in the game against Calgary.

Rachel Barlow bagged a brace and grabbed an assist on Jayden Berg's third as Calgary clinched the final berth to the U SPORTS National Championship with a strong all-round performance. 
 
There was little to choose between the teams in a fast paced first half, but the Dinos edged it and had the bigger goal threat, thanks in part to Erica Mysko, who was causing no end of problems to the WolfPack defence.
 
Mysko had the first shot of the evening six minutes in, which Marissa Young handled well in the WolfPack goal.
 
Thompson Rivers' first real chance came in the 17th minute when Camryn Curts' looping header just didn't have enough power to fully trouble Caley Leask.
 
The Dinos breakthrough came three minutes later when Barlow fired home from the spot after Mysko was sent crashing to the deck in the box by a TRU defender. 
 
Calgary pushed hard for a second, with Allie Shiyuk clearing a shot off the line and Mysko coming close with a couple of chances but the Dinos had to settle for a slender one goal lead at the half.
 
The WolfPack have been a comeback team in their playoff run this year and they were needing to dig deep and launch another one to get back into this game.
 
That job was made all the harder six minutes after the restart when Mysko turned on the jets up the left wing, hit the touchline, and cut the ball back perfectly for Barlow to bury her second of the game.
 
Calgary pushed hard for a third to finally put the game to bed, but Thompson Rivers knew if they could get the next goal they'd be right back in it and they came within inches of doing so in the 69th minute when Alexis Virgo's shot just went past the far post.
 
The Dinos got their third in the 78th minute when Berg rose superbly to head home a Barlow corner, capping off an impressive team performance. 
 
It was a heartbreaking end to a dynamic WolfPack playoff run that captured the imagination and saw TRU claim their first two victories in the history of the women's program, delighting head coach Mark Pennington and giving them something to build upon heading into 2023.