When building a house, there is nothing more important than a reliable, steady foundation. It is what you lean upon when the going gets tough. It’s the backbone of a structure. It’s what allows you to build bigger and better in years to come.
When building a program, the same principles can, and should, be applied. In the case of the UNBC Women’s Soccer team, one of those major foundational pieces was goalkeeper Jordan Hall.
No player in the country was handed a tougher task, and no player stepped up with as much leadership, ability, and courage, making Hall a much-deserving inductee into the Timberwolves Wall of Honour.
After a tremendous youth career with PGYSA and a decorated athletic career with College Heights Secondary, Hall committed to the Timberwolves after her graduation from CHSS in 2011. A star on the pitch, she also arrived in the Green & Gold with plenty of diverse athletic experience, having also starred for the Cougars in both basketball and tennis.
Committing to play for coach Mato Mikic, who had led the program since its first season of BCCAA play in 2007, Hall was joined in a strong recruiting class by her twin sister Sydney, along with promising pieces Tanya Grob and Sydney Wilson. The Timberwolves, like many other young programs, were destined to suffer many growing pains, but adding Hall as the last line of defense would prove to be a program-changing move for the TWolves.
“Growing up in Prince George, being able to play for our hometown program was incredible. The chance to play in front of our friends and family was so motivating,” said Sydney. “I know Jordan valued representing the community and we wanted to contribute to the local sports culture that helped shape our love for the game. It was a chance to help grow and give back to the place that always supported us.”
The youth movement was on, as UNBC played out its final season in the college ranks before the step up to the CIS university tier. Playing behind a team with just one returning starter, Hall and the Timberwolves took their knocks against more experienced opposition, but the 17-year-old keeper proved to be a major part of present and future of the program. At season’s end, she would earn a well-deserved Best Defensive Player award.
In 2012-2013, the Timberwolves competed in their first campaign in the CIS, meaning the ask of the young netminder would be herculean. Every weekend, the TWolves would take on a program much bigger and more established than they were, while leaning on Hall to weather the storm.
She did so with tremendous courage and skill, making the opposition work for every opportunity. Hall would start all 11 games she appeared in that season, making a Canada West-record 126 saves, many of those stops coming as a direct result of her skill, athleticism, or sheer bravery.
“That first season in CIS, we had a roster of only 16 players and we allowed, by far, the most shots against in the entire league. Jordan stood on her head all season,” said Sidney Roy, who was a rookie that season. “She was amazing, but she was also always the guiding voice of the team. She kept us in so many games we should have been out of. It was her competitive drive. It was her skill. She was an inspiration to many of us, and we wanted to perform and improve for her.”
Hall etched her name in the conference record books on September 29th, 2012, when the TWolves took on Mount Royal University. She would make 21 saves, and UNBC needed every single one of them, as they earned a 2-2 draw with the Cougars.
“Those early years were not easy, but we knew we were building something bigger and better for the future. Jordan was a force for us, and she really led us through those first seasons,” said longtime teammate, Jo Ribeiro. “She was so competitive and she made us feel capable of becoming the team we were training to be.”
While the Timberwolves were winless in that first Canada West season, there was positive momentum and confidence, much of it because of the courageous and unrelenting play of their goalkeeper.
Hall backstopped the program to more firsts on October 13th, 2013, when she stopped every shot that came her way and helped the Timberwolves to a 4-nil victory; the first CIS win in UNBC Women’s Soccer history. It came in the midst of another growing season for the TWolves, as coach Andy Cameron looked to instill a culture of development and growth against the toughest teams in the country.
The third-year goalkeeper, who would play all 12 games that year, would show up in the conference record books yet again, making 128 saves to break her own record for most stops in a season.
“Jordan’s value to us was immense. She really had the hardest job in Canada West. Having a keeper behind you who you know is capable making the big saves every time they are called upon – even when that number is sky high – is so important,” said UNBC defender Fiona Raymond. “Without Jordan’s ability on the backline, we would not have had any of the successes we had, or the program would end up having.”
In 2014-2015, UNBC continued to close the gap. Taking on opponents who had handled them easily early in their Canada West tenure, the Timberwolves pushed to the limits. Often soccer matches are decided by a single moment, and the young TWolves program still had much to learn, but their stability between the pipes remained a constant.
Hall was, again, sensational. She would turn away 91 shots; a much-reduced total from years past, but still good enough to rank in the top-ten for a single season in conference history.
“We were improving so much, but on many nights, the reason we were in those games was because of her. She continued to push everyone to get better, and she would always give it everything she had,” said Sydney, of her sister. “Being her twin, and getting to see her up-close, I saw the passion she had for the team on and off the field. The work she put in. The pride she had every time she stepped on the pitch.”
With the program continuing to trend towards more historic firsts, Hall had established herself as a premier goalkeeper in the conference. The 2015-2016 season would mark her final year in a UNBC kit, and the Prince George product had saved some of her most remarkable performances for her senior campaign.
One game that stands out was a road contest, September 19th, 2015 at Thunderbird Stadium against a UBC program that had beaten the Timberwolves 13-nil in the 2012-2013 season. The Thunderbirds would end up winning the 2015 National Championship, but Hall was spectacular on this Saturday afternoon. The TWolves were outshot 32-0 in the match, but had to wait until the 86th minute to beat a resilient Hall and pull out a 1-nil victory.
“That game felt like it to 20 years, and every save Jordan made seemed to be more and more impossible,” said Raymond. “We lost it 1-0 on a late goal, but Jordan was an absolute force. It was a performance only possible by one of the best keepers in Canada West history. It will stick in my mind forever.”
The final home match of Hall’s career was against the #1 ranked team in the conference, the Calgary Dinos, but it was the courageous keeper from Northern BC who would leave her mark for the last time. The Timberwolves would earn a memorable 0-0 draw with the powerhouse Dinos, thanks to a 12 save performance from Hall, in a game that saw the TWolves outshot 19-0.
The following year, the Timberwolves would would build on the momentum and legacy left by Hall and her teammates, and start a five-year run of consecutive Canada West playoff berths. According to TWolves coach Neil Sedgwick, you can draw a direct line from Hall to the growth and development of UNBC Soccer.
“Although I never got to coach Jordan, when I first took the position I would watch the team’s game film from previous years. Her contributions were obvious and massive. She ability to stop the ball. He knack for starting attacks. It was players like Jordan, and so many more, that laid the foundation for the program. Through ups and downs, we can call on the roots of the program to keep nurturing our growth. There have been very special people to have come through this program, and Jordan is one of the greats.”
Despite her saves not being tabulated in her first UNBC season – her rookie campaign at the PacWest level, Hall’s career totals are startling and a true nod to the sheer pressure she was on every time she took the pitch.
At the Canada West level, she started 49 games and made 438 saves – more than 100 more than the next keeper on the career saves list. All four of her CW seasons sit top-ten in the conference’s single-season leaderboard. And she did it all with class, leadership, and immense skill, playing for the program and the community she took so much pride in.
A program changer, a culture-setter, a leader, and a foundational stalwart. And now a member of the Timberwolves Wall of Honour.
“She is a local girl who grew up in Prince George and was able to inspire a generation of goalkeepers in Northern BC,” said Roy. “It was her skill and her determination to be the best goalkeeper she could be, the best leader she could be, and the best teammate she could be. Jordan was our backbone. Every year. One of the best to ever wear the Green & Gold. Her legacy won’t be forgotten.”
