BRONZE MEDAL CIS championship: UBC wins bronze, 6th CIS medal in 7 years

Written by Nathan Lowther, UVic Sports Information Assistant

VICTORIA (CIS) - Elise Milosevich scored twice and Katie Graham made ten saves, including nine in the second half, to carry the second-seeded University of British Columbia Thunderbirds to a 3-0 win over the No. 3 Guelph Gryphons in the bronze medal game at the 2008 CIS women's field hockey championship, Sunday morning.

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

The Canada West champion T-Birds put their hands on a sixth six medal in seven seasons, one year after a disappointing fourth-place finish in Toronto. UBC, which could see its record of 11 McCrae Cup championships tied by the Victoria Vikes later Sunday, was out of the national final in back-to-back years for the first time since 1996-1997.

Guelph finishes fourth in the third CIS tournament appearance in team history. The Gryphons claimed silver a year ago and took fourth place in 2005.

Milosevich, a sophomore from Duncan B.C., opened the scoring early in the bronze-medal match, taking a cross in the sixth minute and pounding a low shot past Guelph goalie Nadia Marques.

That would be all the offence the T-birds would require on this afternoon, as Graham simply refused to be beaten.

Graham, a fourth-year senior from North Vancouver B.C., playing her final game as a T-Bird, had a quiet first period but Guelph, the highest-scoring team in the country this season, put her to the test in the second.

Her best save came in the 44th minute with UBC up 2-0, after CIS rookie of the year Jessalyn Walkey was sent in on a breakaway. Graham aggressively challenged Walkey and took her down inside the arc resulting in the awarding of a penalty stroke. Graham stayed down for a couple of minutes after the collision, but got off the pitch to make a brilliant diving save on an elbow-high flick just inside the right post taken by Hamilton native and four-time all-Canadian Kristine Wishart.

"Katie was stunning. She just got into that zone. That save on the penalty stroke, I've never seen her do that before," said UBC coach Hash Kanjee.

Guelph kept the pressure on and was rewarded with five second-half short corners, but couldn't find the key after Graham locked the door.

"We didn't execute very well the first half, but it came down to heart and character in the second. We just couldn't put it away," said Guelph coach Michelle Turley.

UBC made it 2-0 in the 33rd minute when Laura Dowling, another of the four T-Birds playing their final varsity game, bounced a seeing-eye shot off a short corner through a crowd in front and into the net.

Milosevich rounded out the scoring with her tournament-leading fourth goal in the 64th minute, after a high lob clear over a desperate Guelph fore-check sent her in one-on-one against a defender. Milosevich took it wide and slid a backhand just inside the far post.

"I'm really happy for the kids. They would have rather have been in the one o'clock game, but they had something to prove and I think they did prove it," Kanjee said.

SCORING SUMMARY

UBC: 2-1: 0
GUELPH: 0-0: 0

First half
6th, UBC, Elise Milosevich
33rd, UBC, Laura Dowling, PC

Second half
64th, UBC, Elise Milosevich

Goaltenders
UBC: Katie Graham (W, 70:00, SO, 3-1-1)
GUELPH: Nadia Marques (L, 70:00, 3 GA, 1-3-1)

Players of the game
UBC: Katie Graham (North Vancouver, B.C.)
GUELPH: Angela Lancaster (Burlington, Ont.)


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

Pre-championship 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)

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

------------ GP - W - L - T - GF - GA - PTS

1. Victoria 4 2 1 1 5 3 7
2. Alberta 4 2 1 1 6 5 7
3. UBC 4 2 1 1 4 3 7
4. Guelph 4 1 2 1 7 9 4
5. Toronto 4 1 3 0 5 7 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
Round-Robin 9: UBC 0, Victoria 0
Round-Robin 10: Alberta 2, Toronto 1

Sunday, Nov. 2
10:00 Bronze medal: UBC 3, Guelph 0
13:00 Championship final: Victoria vs. Alberta

- CIS -