GAME 5: 2009 CIS women’s field hockey championship: Vikes, Birds battle to scoreless draw, stay undefeated

VICTORIA (CIS) – The nation’s most storied women’s field hockey programs kicked off the second day of round-robin matches at the CIS championship and it was perhaps fitting that the No. 2-seeded UBC Thunderbirds and reigning national champion Victoria Vikes battled to a 0-0 draw, Friday morning.

The west coast rivals, who share the CIS record with 11 McCrae Cup triumphs apiece, went scoreless through 70 minutes in a defensive stalemate. The tie kept both teams undefeated in round-robin competition with UBC now standing at 2-0-1 for seven points and No. 3 Victoria moving to 1-0-1 for four points.

The duel marked the only outing of the day for the T-Birds, who beat top-ranked Guelph and Alberta by identical scores of 3-1 on Thursday.

The Vikes, who blanked Toronto 1-0 in their lone opening-day match-up, get back on the field against Guelph Friday at 4 p.m. Pacific Time.

“It was a tough game and they’re a tough team,” said Victoria’s Perri Espeseth. “We came out strong but we just couldn’t put it in the back of the net. Zero-zero is always a weird score because the game could have gone either way.”

Espeseth, a two-time all-Canadian defender from Duncan, B.C., was named Victoria game-MVP after another strong performance anchoring the backline. Espeseth’s defensive performance was matched by UBC’s fifth-year senior Samantha Smith of Vancouver, who earned player-of-the-game honours for the T-Birds.

All-Canadian Victoria netminder Kaitlyn Williams of White Rock, B.C., picked up her second shutout of the tournament, her ninth of the 2009 campaign. Her counterpart, Dina Bulfone of Delta, B.C., recorded the whitewash for UBC.

Williams endured a couple of close calls in the late stages of the game after Victoria’s 2008 all-Canadian defender Katie Tittler of Richmond, B.C., left the game with a knee injury. UBC’s all-Canadian forward Elise Milosevich, a sophomore from Duncan who scored twice on Thursday, generated a pair of quality scoring chances but failed to produce what could have been the deciding goal.

The 0-0 draw was the same result as when the T-Birds and Vikes met in last year’s round-robin match-up. It also marks the first time Victoria has taken a point from UBC in five games this season. The T-Birds swept the season series 4-0 en route to their seventh consecutive Canada West championship.

NOTES: The Vikes’ top-ranked defence will be challenged later Friday with containing Guelph’s prolific offence. The OUA champion Gryphons scored 68 goals in 14 games during the regular season and have potted six through two tournament matches, while the Vikes have yet to surrender a goal... Toronto was victorious the last time the Varsity Blues and Thunderbirds met at the CIS championship, scoring a 1-0 victory in the opening match of the 2008 tournament...

SCORING SUMMARY
VIC: 0-0: 0
UBC: 0-0: 0

First half
No scoring

Second half
No scoring

Goaltenders
VIC: Kaitlyn Williams (T, 70:00, 0 GA, 1-0-1)
UBC: Dina Bulfone (T, 70:00, 1 GA, 2-0-1)

Players of the game
Victoria: Perri Espeseth (Duncan, B.C.)
UBC: Samatha Smith (Vancouver, B.C.)

CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDING, STANDINGS & SCHEDULE (all times LOCAL: PACIFIC)

Seeding

1. Guelph Gryphons (OUA champions)
2. UBC Thunderbirds (Canada West champions)
3. Victoria Vikes (second place Canada West)
4. Toronto Varsity Blues (OUA finalists)
5. Alberta Pandas (third place Canada West)

Round-robin standings (after 5 of 10 games)

GP W L T GF GA PTS
1. UBC 3 2 0 1 6 2 7
2. Victoria 2 1 0 1 1 0 4
3. Guelph 2 1 1 0 6 5 3
4. Alberta 1 0 1 0 1 3 0
5. Toronto 2 0 2 0 2 6 0

Thursday, Nov. 5
Round-Robin 1: UBC 3, Guelph 1
Round-Robin 2: Victoria 1, Toronto 0
Round-Robin 3: UBC 3, Alberta 1
Round-Robin 4: Guelph 5, Toronto 2

Friday, Nov. 6
Round-Robin 5: Victoria 0, UBC 0
12:20 Round-Robin 6: Toronto vs. Alberta
16:00 Round-Robin 7: Guelph vs. Victoria

Saturday, Nov. 7
10:00 Round-Robin 8: Victoria vs. Alberta
12:20 Round-Robin 9: UBC vs. Toronto
16:00 Round-Robin 10: Guelph vs. Alberta
17:30 Tie-Breaking Strokes (if necessary)

Sunday, Nov. 8
10:00 Bronze medal
13:00 Championship final

- CIS -