Abbey Wright found herself in alone with the ball in the 81st minute of a tied U SPORTS national championship quarter-final match and had one thought on her mind.

“I was thinking, ‘please don’t sky this, that would be really embarrassing,’” she says.

Instead, she slotted it inside the left post and became a hero.

With that shot, the MacEwan Griffins Women's Soccer team beat the Queen’s Gaels 2-1 to advance to the national semifinals.

“I was just thankful the ball got to me and I could do that for my team, and support them through that journey,” said Wright, a Bachelor of Arts student. “I’m just so grateful for them.”

The win is MacEwan’s first ever by any team at a U SPORTS national championship.

“The girls closed it out,” says Dean Cordeiro, head coach. His squad had to repel a furious final push from the Gaels in the final moments of the match. “I’m so proud of them. It’s a big moment for us.

Just weeks ago, the Griffins won a Canada West bronze medal that punched their first-ever ticket to nationals.

“But we’re not here to just be competitive," says Cordeiro. "We’re here to win a national championship and we’re one step closer after this result.”

The Griffins will take on UBC in a semifinal match on November 20 in a rematch of the Canada West semifinal.

And with all the work she does defensively as a centre-back for the Griffins, Wright is earning a reputation for scoring big goals. “You always want to score,” she says. “The feeling is so great to have that huddle come in and all your teammates are so proud of you. It’s just an honour to score.”

Source: Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics (with files from U SPORTS). Read the original story here.