GAME 8 CIS championship: Gryphons saved by late goal, tie Pandas

Written by Nathan Lowther, UVic Sports Information Assistant

VICTORIA (CIS) - Second-team all-Canadian Brienne Stairs scored with under two minutes left in regulation as the No. 3-seeded Guelph Gryphons escaped with a 2-2 tie against the No. 5 Alberta Pandas in the eighth of 10 round-robin duels to keep their medal hopes alive at the 2008 CIS women's field hockey championship.

Championship web site:
www.cisport.ca/e/championships/w_fieldhockey/2008

The draw eliminates Guelph (1-2-1) from gold-medal contention however. The Gryphons, CIS silver medalists a year ago, end the round-robin portion of the championship with four points, two less than No. 2 UBC (2-1) and No. 4 Victoria (2-1) currently have, with one preliminary round match to play.

UBC and Victoria face each other Saturday at 12:20 p.m. Pacific.

Alberta (1-2-1) is currently tied with Guelph with four points and will battle Toronto (1-2 / 3 pts) in the final round-robin contest of the tournament at 4 p.m.

Only UBC, Victoria and Alberta can still advance to Sunday's national final.

With less than two minutes left on the clock in Saturday's first match, Guelph was awarded a free stroke just outside the arc. The Gryphons put the ball down low and Stairs, a Kitchener, Ont. native who led the nation this season with 19 goals in 13 conference outings, quickly roofed the ball just inside the near post to tie the affair at two all.

"That's two games now where we have been scored on in the final five minutes to either lose or tie. You never like that," said Alberta coach Carla Duncan.

The tying goal came at the end of half dominated by Alberta.

The Gryphons played two spirited games on Friday, including an emotional win against OUA rival and defending CIS champion Toronto, and looked tired. Alberta, fresher having played only twice since Thursday, carried the play and dominated possession.

The Pandas out-chanced Guelph in the second half, but only managed to beat Nadia Marques of Burlington, Ont., once in the final period. Marques, an all-Canadian midfielder in 2007, became the goalie after Guelph's regular keeper left the team early in the season. She was named Guelph player of the game, holding her team in for the late comeback.

"She's a gamer, that's what she does well. She's very unselfish and does what's best for the team," said Guelph coach Michelle Turley.

The first half started with a bang, with both teams scoring in the eighth minute. Kristine Wishart, a four-time all-Canadian from Hamilton, gave the Gryphons the start they needed, recovering a flubbed shot off a short corner and beating Alberta goalie Tory Spencer on the short side.

But seconds later, Rachel Sanders of Kelowna, B.C., evened the match with her first of two goals on the afternoon, getting a stick on a cross from Regina native Lisa Fay and redirected the ball high into the net.

In the second half, Sanders became the first player to score twice in a game in the tournament. A hard shot off a short corner in the 40th minute was saved by Marques, but no Gryphon could find the rebound. Sanders got to it and flipped it over a pile up in front of the net, putting her team ahead 2-1.

Alberta was missing standout defender Dilraj Bal, as the Kelowna native had an entrance exam to write. Bal played every minute of every game for the Pandas this season.

"There's no question we missed her today. It's pretty tough to be three games into a tournament and be down a starter and a key contributor," said Duncan.

SCORING SUMMARY

GUELPH: 1-1: 1
ALBERTA: 1-1: 1

First half
7th, GUELPH, Kristine Wishart, PC
9th, ALBERTA, Rachel Sanders

Second half
40th, ALBERTA, Rachel Sanders, PC
69th, GUELPH, Brienne Stairs

Goaltenders
GUELPH: Nadia Marques (T, 70:00, 2 GA, 1-1-1)
ALBERTA: Tory Spencer (T, 70:00, 2 GA, 1-2-1)

Players of the game
GUELPH: Nadia Marques (Burlington, Ont.)
ALBERTA: Bunny Hughes (Victoria, B.C.)


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

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

Round-robin standings (after 8 of 10 games)

----------- GP - W - L - T - GF - GA - PTS
1. Victoria 3 2 1 0 5 3 6
1. UBC 3 2 1 0 4 3 6
3. Alberta 3 1 1 1 4 4 4
3. Guelph 4 1 2 1 7 9 4
4. Toronto 3 1 2 0 4 5 3

Thursday, Oct. 30
Round-Robin 1: Toronto 1, UBC 0
Round-Robin 2: Victoria 3, Guelph 1
Round-Robin 3: UBC 2, Alberta 1
Round-Robin 4: Victoria 2, Toronto 1

Friday, Oct. 31
Round-Robin 5: UBC 2, Guelph 1
Round-Robin 6: Alberta 1, Victoria 0
Round-Robin 7: Guelph 3, Toronto 2

Saturday, Nov. 1
Round-Robin 8: Guelph 2, Alberta 2
12:20 Round-Robin 9: UBC vs. Victoria
16:00 Round-Robin 10: Toronto vs. Alberta
17:30 Tie-Breaking Strokes (if necessary)

Sunday, Nov. 2
10:00 Bronze medal
13:00 Championship final