VICTORIA – Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. PST at Centennial Stadium in Victoria the CIS women's soccer championship will kick off between the No. 2 Trinity Western University Spartans and the No. 6 Queen's University Gaels.
 
The Gaels head into the final match after beating the AUS champion Dalhousie Tigers 2-0 in the quarter-finals and the No. 1 OUA champion Ottawa Gee-Gees 4-1 in Friday's semifinal. The Spartans earned their spot by defeating OUA silver medalist Wilfrid Laurier 2-1 in the quarter-finals and host No. 4 and Canada West silver medalist Victoria 1-0 in Friday's second semifinal.
 
The winner will be crowned this year's champion. But there is more than that on the line in Sunday's title match.
 
The two squads have been the “powerhouses” of CIS women's soccer for the past five seasons. The two teams have combined to capture each of the past four national championships, with TWU winning in 2008 and 2009 and Queen's winning in 2010 and 2011. In addition, both programs have won three CIS titles for their schools and have veteran coaches who have been amongst the winningest bench bosses in the country. For the Gaels, Dave McDowell, who won CIS coach of the year in 1993 and 1998 and is in his 25^th season with Queen's, has a total of 210 career victories and an overall record of 210-39-60. On TWU's side, Graham Roxburgh, the 2011 CIS coach of the year and two-time FISU coach, has a total of 176 wins for a record of 176-92-44 in his 14 seasons with the Spartans.
 
A fourth CIS title for either of their programs would mean the winner would move to within striking distance of the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, who hold the record for women's soccer national championships with five (2006, 2003, 2002, 1993, 1987).
 
Over their 29-year history the Queen's Gaels have in impressive record of 15 CIS championship appearances where they have posted a record of 14-12-4. The Spartans, who entered CIS competition in 2002, also possess an impressive record at the national tournament as they are 12-3-1 overall and have played in four of the last five championships and six overall in their 13 seasons.
 
Should Queen's win, it will mark an unprecedented three championships in a row and a fourth for the school. Four schools have won two titles in a row, UBC (2002, 2003), Dalhousie (1999, 2000), TWU (2008, 2009) and Queen's (2010, 2011), but none has been able to get the elusive third.
 
It will also give McDowell a record breaking fourth personal women's soccer CIS title. McDowell previously won in 1988 to go with his two in the last two seasons.
 
With three championship wins, McDowell is currently tied with Victoria's Tracy David (2005 with the Vikes and 1997 and 1989 with Alberta), UBC's Dick Mosher (2003, 2002, 1993) and TWU's Graham Roxburgh (2004, 2008, 2009).
 
Should Trinity Western win, it will give the program its third title in five years and also the record breaking fourth for the school's head coach Roxburgh, who in addition to 2008 and 2009 won the school's first ever CIS crown in 2004.
 
The Gaels earned their way into the CIS championship as the OUA Bronze medalists after posting a regular season record of 11-2-3 and a 2-1-0 playoff record. Queen's defeated the McMaster University 2-1 in the OUA third place match to earn the conference its third spot at the CIS championship.
 
The Spartans entered the CIS championship as the two-time Canada West champions after defeating Victoria 2-1 in the CW gold medal match. TWU finished the season with an impressive 11-1-0 regular season record and a 3-0 playoff record.
 
Leading the way for Queen's are 2012 CIS second team All-Canadian Jackie Tessier (Winnipeg), who finished second in  the OUA in scoring with 14 goals, and OUA All-Stars Jessie De Boer (North Vancouver, B.C.), Jackie Tessier, Mikyla Kay (West Vancouver, B.C.) and Alexis McKinty (Burlington, Ont.).
 
Leading the way for Trinity Western are 2012 first team All-Canadians Kristen Funk (Calgary), Colleen Webber (Calgary) and Krista Gommeringer (Calgary) and second team Natalie Boyd (Surrey, B.C.). Funk led the Canada West in shutouts with nine and goals against average at 0.33 after giving up only four goals in conference play, while Gommeringer made a splash in her rookie year by leading the conference in points with 22, while placing second in both goals with 13 and assists with nine.
 
The two schools have met once before in the national championship with the Spartans defeating the Gaels 2-1 (5-3 pk) in the 2009 CIS semifinal in Toronto.
 

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QUICK LOOK:
Queen's Gaels
Head Coach: Dave McDowell (25th season)
Regular season record: 11-2-3
Regular season standing: 2nd OUA East (tied 2nd overall OUA)
Playoff record: 4-1
Playoff finish: OUA bronze medallists
Top 10 final ranking (Oct. 30): No. 7
Top 10 best ranking: No. 1 (first poll)
Top 10 number of weeks ranked (9 polls): 9
Conference award winners (OUA East): None
Second team All-Canadian: Riley Filion (M)
Conference 1st team all-stars (OUA East): Jessie De Boer (D), Riley Filion (M), Jackie Tessier (S)
Conference 2nd team all-stars (OUA East): Mikyla Kay (D), Alexis McKinty (M)
CIS championship appearances (including 2012): 13
CIS championship all-time record: 14-12-4 (.533)
CIS championship all-time medals: 5 (3 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
CIS championship best result: 3-time champions (1988, 2010, 2011)
CIS championship last appearance: 2011 (champions)
CIS championship sequence: 4th straight appearance (10th in 13 years)
 
Trinity Western Spartans
Head Coach: Graham Roxburgh (14th season)
Regular season record: 11-1-0
Regular season standing: 1st Canada West
Playoff record: 5-0
Playoff finish: Canada West champions
Top 10 final ranking (Oct. 30): No. 2
Top 10 best ranking: No. 2 (4 weeks)
Top 10 number of weeks ranked (9 polls): 9
First team All-Canadians: Kristen Funk (G) Colleen Webber (D), Krista Gommeringer (F)
Second team All-Canadian: Natalie Boyd (M)
Conference award winners: Krista Gommeringer (rookie), Kristen Funk (student-athlete & community service)
Conference 1st team all-stars: Kristen Funk (G), Jennifer Castillo (D), Colleen Webber (D), Natalie Boyd (M), Krista Gommeringer (S)
Conference 2nd team all-stars: Nikki Byrne (D)
CIS championship appearances (including 2012): 6
CIS championship all-time record: 11-3-1 (.767)
CIS championship all-time medals: 3 (3 gold)
CIS championship best result: 3-time champions (2004, 2008, 2009)
CIS championship last appearance: 2011 (6th place)
CIS championship sequence: 2nd straight appearance (4th in 5 years)