PREVIEW: 2010 CIS women’s field hockey championship: Host Gryphons looking for first McCrae Cup

OTTAWA (CIS) – Home field has proven a significant advantage in recent years in Canadian Interuniversity Sport women’s field hockey and the University of Guelph Gryphons hope it will be the case once again this week as they prepare to host the national championship for the first time.

The 2010 CIS tournament gets under way Thursday with the first of three days of round-robin competition and culminates Sunday at 1 p.m. with the gold-medal final.

Established tournament favourites for the second straight season on Monday, the Gryphons are hoping for a better result than a year ago when they settled for a disappointing fourth place in Victoria.

Also returning from the 2009 tourney are the defending national champion UBC Thunderbirds, seeded No. 2 this week; the third-seeded Toronto Varsity Blues, who finished fifth 12 months ago; and the Victoria Vikes, ranked No. 4 a year after claiming CIS bronze.

The Waterloo Warriors round out the list of participating teams. Waterloo will be making its first appearance since a fourth-place finish in 2004.

In order to put their hands on the first McCrae Cup in program history, the Gryphons, whose best result at the event remains a silver medal in 2007, will have to beat the odds and overcome the challenge that presents the “Big Three”.

Between them, UBC (12), Victoria (11) and Toronto (10) have captured 33 of 35 titles since the inaugural national championship in 1975. The T-Birds claimed their record 12th McCrae Cup in 2009 thanks to a dominating 6-0 gold-medal win over Alberta.

The only other teams in history to win the CIS banner were Alberta in 2005 and Dalhousie, way back in 1976.

Guelph can take some comfort in the fact the host team has claimed the title three of the past four years including Victoria in 2008, Toronto in 2007 and UBC in 2006. But the Gryphons’ confidence is also the result of their own stellar play and the presence in their line-up of fourth-year forward Brienne Stairs, arguably the best university player in the country.

The Kitchener native, who was named CIS player of the year in 2009 and is the two-time reigning MVP of the Ontario conference, scored an incredible 32 goals in 14 games during the regular season – 17 more than the next-best player – and added 27 assists as Guelph led the OUA with 85 goals, 21 more than second-place Toronto.

High-scoring Guelph enters the CIS championship sporting a remarkable 15-1 overall record, including a 3-2 win over Toronto in last Sunday’s OUA final. The Gryphons went 2-0 against fifth-seeded Waterloo this season and 2-1 overall versus the No. 2 Varsity Blues, who beat them 3-1 in conference play back on Oct. 16 for their lone loss of the campaign.

Toronto was 3-0 overall against Waterloo, including a 2-0 semi-final victory. The Warriors downed Western 3-1 to claim OUA bronze and secure the last conference berth into the CIS championship.

Meanwhile in Canada West, it was business as usual for the Thunderbirds (9-1-2) and Vikes (6-4-2), who once again finished 1-2 in the conference standings. The four games between the two archrivals this fall ended with 3-2 and 2-0 UBC wins, a 3-2 Victoria victory, as well as a 1-1 draw.

There are no playoffs in CWUAA field hockey.

This most recent Canada West title, their eighth in a row, can still be considered a major achievement and somewhat of a surprise for the T-Birds, who lost nine of 11 starters from their 2009 championship squad.

Led by conference MVP Sarah MacAulay, UBC is looking to repeat as McCrae Cup champion for the fourth time in team history. The storied program from Vancouver has previously accomplished the feat in 2003-2004, 1998-1999 and 1982-1983.

Second-seeded UBC opens its title defence against No. 1 Guelph Thursday at 9:30 a.m. The two teams also met in the 2009 opener, with the Thunderbirds prevailing 3-1.

NOTE: The last time the CIS championship was held in Ontario, in 2007, host Toronto defeated Guelph 1-0 in overtime in the title match... All other CIS finals since 2002 have involved two Canada West teams...

TEAM PROFILES

No. 1 Guelph Gryphons (OUA champions)

Head Coach: Michelle Turley (7th season)
Regular season record: 13-1-0
Regular season standing: 1st OUA
Playoff record: 2-0
Playoff finish: OUA champions
Conference award winners: Brienne Stairs (MVP)
Conference all-stars: Brienne Stairs, Tegan Stairs, Brittany Seidler, Kaye McLagen
CIS championship best result: 1-time finalists (2007)
CIS championship last appearance: 2009 (4th)
CIS championship sequence: 4th straight appearance (5th in 6 years & in team history)

No. 2 UBC Thunderbirds (Canada West champions)

Head Coach: Hash Kanjee (18th season)
Regular season record: 9-1-2
Regular season standing: 1st Canada West
Playoff record: No playoffs in CW
Playoff finish: No playoffs in CW
Conference award winners: Sarah MacAulay (MVP), Natalie Sourisseau (rookie of the year), Bea Francisco (top goalie)
Conference all-stars: Sarah MacAulay, Kirsten Bertsch, Natalie Sourisseau
CIS championship best result: 12-time champions (2009, ‘06, ‘04, ‘03, ‘01, ‘99, ‘98, ‘90, ‘83, ‘82, ‘80, ‘78)
CIS championship last appearance: 2009 (champions)
CIS championship sequence: 13th straight appearance (31st since inaugural championship in 1975)

No. 3 Toronto Varsity Blues (OUA finalists)

Head Coach: John DeSouza (5th season)
Regular season record: 13-1-0
Regular season standing: 2nd OUA
Playoff record: 1-1
Playoff finish: OUA finalists
Conference award winners: None
Conference all-stars: Kyesia O’Neale, Hannah Tighe, Kaelan Watson
CIS championship best result: 10-time champions (2007, ‘96, ’93, ’88, ’86, ’85, ’81, ’79, ’77, ’75)
CIS championship last appearance: 2009 (5th)
CIS championship sequence: 7th straight appearance (34th since inaugural championship in 1975)

No. 4 Victoria Vikes (second place Canada West)

Head Coach: Lynne Beecroft (27th season)
Regular season record: 6-4-2
Regular season standing: 2nd Canada West
Playoff record: No playoffs in CW
Playoff finish: No playoffs in CW
Conference award winners: None
Conference all-stars: Perri Espeseth, Danielle Hennig, Kyla Kirby
CIS championship best result: 11-time champions (2008, ’02, ’00, ‘97, ’95, ’94, ’92, ’91, ’89, ’87, ‘84)
CIS championship last appearance: 2009 (bronze)
CIS championship sequence: 5th straight appearance (27th in 28 years)

No. 5 Waterloo Warriors (OUA bronze medallists)

Head Coach: Steven Rodrigues (1st season)
Regular season record: 8-6-0
Regular season standing: 3rd OUA
Playoff record: 2-1
Playoff finish: OUA bronze medallists
Conference award winners: Jessica Lawson (CIS Outstanding Contributor Award nominee)
Conference all-stars: Kara Moro
CIS championship best result: 1-time finalists (2001)
CIS championship last appearance: 2004 (4th)
CIS championship sequence: 1st appearance since 2004

McCRAE CUP CHAMPIONS

2009 UBC
2008 Victoria
2007 Toronto
2006 UBC
2005 Alberta
2004 UBC
2003 UBC
2002 Victoria
2001 UBC
2000 Victoria
1999 UBC
1998 UBC
1997 Victoria
1996 Toronto
1995 Victoria
1994 Victoria
1993 Toronto
1992 Victoria
1991 Victoria
1990 UBC
1989 Victoria
1988 Toronto
1987 Victoria
1986 Toronto
1985 Toronto
1984 Victoria
1983 UBC
1982 UBC
1981 Toronto
1980 UBC
1979 Toronto
1978 UBC
1977 Toronto
1976 Dalhousie
1975 Toronto

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Wednesday, Nov. 3
19:00 All-Canadian Awards Banquet (Holiday Inn Guelph Hotel & Convention Centre)

Thursday, Nov. 4
9:30 Round-Robin 1: Guelph vs. UBC
11:50 Round-Robin 2: Toronto vs. Victoria
15:30 Round-Robin 3: UBC vs. Waterloo
17:50 Round-Robin 4: Guelph vs. Victoria

Friday, Nov. 5
10:00 Round-Robin 5: Toronto vs. UBC
12:20 Round-Robin 6: Victoria vs. Waterloo
16:00 Round-Robin 7: Guelph vs. Toronto

Saturday, Nov. 6
10:00 Round-Robin 8: Toronto vs. Waterloo
12:20 Round-Robin 9: UBC vs. Victoria
16:00 Round-Robin 10: Guelph vs. Waterloo
17:30 Tie-Breaking Strokes (if necessary)

Sunday, Nov. 7
10:00 Bronze medal
13:00 Championship final

-CIS-