Women's soccer final: Memorial Sea-Hawks win first-ever AUS women's soccer banner with 3-1 victory over UNB

(HALIFAX, N.S.) - The second-seeded Memorial Sea-Hawks have won the 2014 Subway AUS women's soccer championship after Jesse Noseworthy scored two goals in the second half to give the Sea-Hawks a 3-1 over the top-ranked UNB Varsity Reds.

This is the first-ever AUS women's soccer championship banner win for the Memorial Sea-Hawks. 

The Sea-Hawks had lost both previous matches against the Varsity Reds this season, but they won when it mattered, handing the Varsity Reds just their second loss in all of 2014.

It was a dark and stormy day for the championship final game. The spirits of the Sea-Hawks weren't dampened in the least despite the hurricane-like weather that poured down on Wickwire Field.

In the 15^th minute, Hannah Rivkin nearly opened the scoring when she got her head on a beautiful pass in by Jane Pope, but the ball sailed just right of the UNB net.

Meggie Spicer was all alone in the box with the ball in the 19^th minute but she couldn't corral the ball into the net as the ball skipped wide to keep the game scoreless.

UNB's Hayley Gates then found herself on the receiving end of a nearly perfectly placed corner kick from Lucy Parkin in the 27^th minute. She headed in the ball past Hannah Noseworthy to give the Varsity Reds a 1-0 lead.

Lauren Cubbon came up with a huge defensive play when she headed away a Memorial shot on the goal line. But, the Varsity Reds failed to get the ball out of their end and the Sea-Hawks' strong offensive pressure was finally rewarded with a goal as Rivkin nailed a header that bounced over the line to tie the game at one in the 36^th minute.

Kayla Painter nearly gave the Varsity Reds a 2-1 lead in the dying minutes of the first half when she found herself alone against the goalie, but she fanned on the shot and the game remained tied going into halftime.

With the second half underway, Jessie Noseworthy scored off a pass from Jane Pope to give the Sea-Hawks their first lead of the game in the 65^th minute after she connected with a solid strike in a mad scramble in the box.

She followed it up with another beauty of a goal from inside the box after a great pass from Jane Pope to make the game 3-1.

Despite never finding the back of the net during the final, Pope's passing and vision were critical to the Sea-Hawks' offensive success all game as she fed her teammates with precision passes time and time again.

Despite strong pressure from the Varsity Reds, the Sea-Hawks were up to the task defensively. They'd hold on to win 3-1 to capture the championship in thrilling fashion. 

"It feels absolutely amazing, I just don't know to describe this feeling," says Sea-Hawks head coach Walt Mavin. "For a group of mostly first and second year players to come together so quickly is fantastic. I don't know if at the start of the season we envisioned ourselves in this position, but we got our goal of a first-round bye and kept working. I give our girls so much credit, they just didn't stop working." 

Memorial's Melissa Reid was named the MVP of the tournament, while UNB's lone goal-scorer Hayley Gates was named the Subway player of the game for the Varsity Reds. 

Jessie Noseworthy was named the Subway player of the game for the Sea-Hawks.​

Source: Dalhousie Sports Information