GAME 5: CIS championship: Blues blank defending champs, move to 2-0

Photo credit Guelph Athletics

GUELPH, Ont. (CIS) – The University of Toronto Varsity Blues blanked the reigning champion UBC Thunderbirds 1-0 in the first game of Day 2 at the CIS women’s field hockey championship, Friday morning.
 
The third-seeded Blues move to 2-0 in the four-game round-robin preliminary stage, while the No. 2 T-Birds drop to 2-1.
 
Rookie forward Alexandra Evanysnyn of Burlington, Ont., scored her third goal of the tournament in the 50th minute to secure win for Toronto.
 
“It’s not a surprise to me that she’s able to score, we brought her in as a goal scoring threat,” said U of T head coach John De Souza of Evanysnyn. “What I’m really most impressed about is her composure inside the circle.”
 
The Blues demonstrated their depth by starting goaltender Samantha Lyzun of West Vancouver, B.C., who sat out against Victoria on Thursday. Kathryn Williams of Burlington, Ont., earned a 3-0 shutout in Toronto’s opener.
 
Lyzun was stellar between the pipes, making a diving stick save right before the half to keep the game scoreless as well as many kick saves on short corners.
 
“It’s a great duo,” De Souza said of his goalies. “They work well together and they’re very supportive of each other.”
 
The first half was mostly mid-field possession switching between the two teams. The first short corner occurred with just 11 minutes remaining in the opening frame.
 
In the 44th minute, UBC had a great scoring opportunity when the ball hit the post on a short corner but the strong Toronto defence managed to clear the rebound.
 
But it was Toronto who hit the back of the net. Evanysnyn, who has contributed most of the Blues offence thus far, chased a loose ball into the UBC end and pulled around the goalie to put it into the empty net.
 
The T-Birds did not sit back when down a goal. Less than two minutes later, Victoria Pearson of Tsawwassen, B.C., dribbled through the Toronto backfield and fed her fellow forward whose shot went off a Blues leg. Despite complaints from the UBC players and bench that it should be a penalty stroke, the umpire ruled it a short corner.
 
The UBC all-stars shined for their team. Canada West MVP and all-Canadian Sarah MacAulay of Vancouver controlled the backfield and CIS rookie of the year Natalie Sourisseau of Kelowna, B.C., led the attack in the first half before limping to the sideline at the start of the second and sitting the rest of the game.
 
Pearson was named UBC player of the game for her two-way dominance.
 
Toronto’s Kaelan Watson led the offence and the defence for the Blues all game earning her player-of-the-game honours for the winners.
 
The Blues (2-0) continue their tough day when they face archrivals Guelph at 4 p.m. The tournament host Gryphons came into the championship as the No. 1 seed after edging Toronto 3-2 in the OUA final but are off to an 0-2 start following losses to UBC and Victoria.
 
UBC (2-1) will have some time to rest after a busy start to the tournament. The Thunderbirds end the preliminary round against Canada West rival Victoria (1-1) Saturday at 12:20 p.m.  

SCORING SUMMARY

TOR 0-1: 1 
UBC 0-0: 0
 
First half
No Scoring
 
Second half
50th, TOR, Alexandra Evanysnyn (3)
 
Goaltenders
TOR: Samantha Lyzun (W, 70:00, 0 GA, 1-0)
UBC: Bea Francisco (L, 70:00, 1 GA, 2-1)
 
Players of the game
TOR: Kaelan Watson (Richmond, B.C.)
UBC: Victoria Pearson (Tsawwassen, B.C.)

  
PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDING
 
1. Guelph Gryphons (OUA champions)
2. UBC Thunderbirds (Canada West champions)
3. Toronto Varsity Blues (OUA finalists)
4. Victoria Vikes (Canada West second place)
5. Waterloo Warriors (OUA bronze medallists)
 
STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS
 
Round-robin standings (after 5 of 10 games)
 
                       GP       W          L          T         GF       GA      PTS
1. Toronto        2          2          0          0          4          0          6
2. UBC              2          2          1          0          8          4          6
3. Victoria         2          1          1          0          2          4          3
4. Waterloo      1          0          1          0          2          6          0
5. Guelph          2          0          2          0          2          4          0
 
Thursday, Nov. 4
9:30 Round-Robin 1: Guelph 1, UBC 2
11:50 Round-Robin 2: Toronto 3, Victoria 0
15:30 Round-Robin 3: UBC 6, Waterloo 2
17:50 Round-Robin 4: Guelph 1 Victoria 2
 
Friday, Nov. 5
10:00 Round-Robin 5: Toronto 1, UBC 0
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-