An Okanagan-Mission alumnus was a key contributor to the Simon Fraser Red Leafs women鈥檚 soccer team winning the Great Northwest Athletic Conference playoff championship.

It is the first time SFU has won this championship since it moved to the NCAA in 2010.

SFU entered the four-team tournament as the fourth seed.

In the team鈥檚 first game, the Red Leafs beat the top-seed Seattle Pacific, which won the league鈥檚 regular-season title and was ranked 16th in NCAA Division II coming into the weekend.

The score was 4-2.

In the championship final, SFU beat defending NCAA champion Western Washington 2-1.

Cartier, a junior midfielder, scored a goal in the semifinal against SFU and was named to an All-GNAC Honourable Mention team, having led the SFU team in several statistical categories during the regular season.

She was the leading scorer for the season with six goals and two assists for 14 points in 17 games played and led the team in shots with 38.

Cartier was a major component in the Red Leafs鈥� strategy, winning countless battles against WWU鈥檚 top attackers while playing the full 90 minutes of the championship game.

鈥淚f you want to win these types of games, you have to be brave. You have to be courageous. And you have to find your moments to go at them and fortunately enough we were able to get one early again,鈥� said SFU women鈥檚 soccer team interim coach Carlo Basso.

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