GOLD: 2009 CIS women’s field hockey championship: UBC’s claims record 12th McCrae Cup

VICTORIA (CIS) – The second-seeded UBC Thunderbirds won a record-setting 12th CIS women’s field hockey title with a 6-0 gold-medal defeat of the No. 5 Alberta Pandas, Sunday afternoon at the University of Victoria.

The Thunderbirds’ triumph, their first since 2006, gives them one more McCrae Cup championship than Victoria and two more than Toronto.

The Pandas, who claimed their lone McCrae Cup in 2005 with a 2-1 penalty strokes victory over UBC in the only previous final between the two teams, lost in the title match for the second year in a row as the No. 5 seed. Alberta was defeated 2-1 by Victoria in the 2008 final.

The six-goal offensive output is a record for a single team in a medal match since the inaugural CIS tournament in 1975. The previous high was five by Alberta in a 5-0 shutout of York in the 1996 bronze-medal game, the same year Toronto set the previous mark for most goals in the national final with a 4-2 win over Victoria.

Reigning CIS rookie of the year Abigail Raye of Kelowna, B.C., led the outburst with her first two goals of the tournament (27th minute, 60th).

Elise Milosevich (1st) of Duncan, B.C., with her team-leading third of the competition, Robyn Pendleton (13th) of Victoria, Whitney Kroll (50th) of West Vancouver and Kira Graham (61st) of North Vancouver rounding out the scoring. Pendleton, Kroll and Graham were all scoring for a second time this week.

Pendleton, a first-team all-Canadian forward, was named the championship’s most valuable player. She was one of three T-Birds named to the tournament all-star team, along with fellow first-team all-Canadian Milosevich and Kristyn Harrington of West Vancouver.

Third-year UBC defender Kirsten Bertsch of Duncan was named MVP of the final, while Alberta player-of-the-game honours went to fifth-year forward Bunny Hughes of Victoria.

“This is the game we’ve been dreaming of,” said Pendleton, who captured her first CIS title in her third campaign with the T-Birds. “It’s a pretty good way to finish a season. As a team we did really well and we finished our opportunities, which ultimately made all the difference.”

UBC got on the board shortly after the opening whistle with Milosevich scoring 55 seconds into the contest.

UBC had built a 3-0 lead by halftime.

“They were on fire today, they were really moving the ball well,” said Hash Kanjee, who has coached UBC to six CIS titles. “It took the pressure off early and after that we got into a groove and we did the right things and I’m really happy for them.”

The T-Birds, Canada West champions seven years running, finished the tournament with an undefeated record of 4-0-1 and outscored their opponents 16-3.

It was the 17th appearance in the national final for UBC, which won its first CIS title in 1978.

SCORING SUMMARY
UBC: 3-3: 6
Alberta: 0-0: 0

First half
1st, UBC, Elise Milosevich (3)
13th, UBC, Robyn Pendleton (2)
27th, UBC, Abigail Raye (1)

Second half
50th, UBC, Whitney Kroll (2)
60th, UBC, Abigail Raye (2)
61st, UBC, Kira Graham (2)

Goaltenders
UBC: Dina Bulfone (W, 70:00, 0 GA, 4-0-1)
ALB: Tory Spencer (L, 70:00, 6 GA, 2-3-0)

Players of the game
UBC: Kirsten Bertsch (Duncan, B.C.)
ALB: Bunny Hughes (Victoria, B.C.)

TOURNAMENT XI

Championship MVP: Robyn Pendleton (Victoria, B.C.), UBC

R.W. Pugh Fair Play award: UBC Thunderbirds

Perri Espeseth (Duncan, B.C.), Victoria
Kristyn Harrington (West Vancouver, B.C.), UBC
Bunny Hughes (Victoria, B.C.), Alberta
Anna Sophie Kehrein (Speyet, Germany), Toronto
Kyla Kirby (Victoria, B.C.), Victoria
Elise Milosevich (Duncan, B.C.), UBC
Robyn Pendleton (Victoria, B.C.), UBC
Brienne Stairs (Kitchener, Ont.), Guelph
Jackie Trautman (Delta, B.C.), Alberta
Kaelan Watson (Richmond, B.C.), Toronto
Kristine Wishart (Hamilton, Ont.), Guelph

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)

Final round-robin standings (after 10 of 10 games)

GP W L T GF GA PTS
1. UBC 4 3 0 1 10 3 10
2. Alberta 4 2 2 0 6 7 6
3. Victoria 4 1 1 2 3 3 5
4. Guelph 4 1 2 1 8 8 4
5. Toronto 4 1 3 0 5 10 3

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
Round-Robin 6: Toronto 2, Alberta 1
Round-Robin 7: Guelph 1, Victoria 1

Saturday, Nov. 7
Round-Robin 8: Alberta 2, Toronto 1
Round-Robin 9: UBC 4, Toronto 1
Round-Robin 10: Alberta 2, Guelph 1

Sunday, Nov. 8
Bronze medal: Victoria 2, Guelph 1
Championship final: UBC 6, Alberta 0

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