CIS women's field hockey Saturday roundup

Photo credit Neil Hodge, Victoria

Guelph 2, Waterloo 1 Final

Toronto 2, Western 0 Final

Guelph 9, Queen's 2 Final

Alberta 1, Victoria 0 Final

VICTORIA - The Vikes women’s field hockey team lost 1-0 in their home opener against Alberta today. The team now goes down 0-3 in Canada West play and will look to steal points in their second match against Alberta tomorrow, Sept. 25, at 11am.
 
The Vikes entered this weekend’s Alberta doubleheader with some extra confidence as goalkeeper and 2007 Rookie of the Year Kaitlyn Williams suited up. Williams is back for the weekend games in between training with the national team for the Pan American Games.
 
The first half of the game saw a majority of action played between the 25 yard lines. Although the young Vikes squad maintained good possession, they were unable to capitalize in the other end.
 
Captain Whitney Siegmann was the most dangerous in the first half. Siegmann single handedly carried the ball from inside her half into the Pandas’ circle but was unable to generate an outcome. Siegmann had another close opportunity when she received a cross with lots of time but the shot was fired just wide.
 
The Pandas were awarded a penalty corner just before the half-time whistle. Despite argument from the UVic bench, the corner was allowed and Alberta defender Jackie Trautmann dragged the ball low and hard passed Williams’ non-stick side. The Pandas entered the break with a 1-0 lead.
 
In the second half, the Vikes earned their first penalty corner off a dangerous run by Stefanie Hatch and Courtney Ellis. The initial shot by Sam Purcell was blocked but a great follow-up attempt by Alexis Veljacic just skimmed the outside of the post to keep the Vikes off the board.
 
Action moved end to end with Trautmann dominating the midfield for Alberta and Marisa Davidson and Siegmann continuing to create chances for the Vikes. The blue side was rewarded in the second half with back-to-back corners but were again unable to score.
 
In a desperate attempt to tie the game, head coach Lynne Beecroft pulled goalkeeper Williams in order to stack the field with 11 field players. Alberta managed to fend off the extra blue attacker and walk away with the 3 points, the second win of their Canada West campaign.

Source: Victoria Sports Info 

Waterloo 2, York 0 Final

UBC 3, Calgary 0 Final

VANCOUVER - The visiting Calgary Dinos rebounded from a UBC-dominated first half to generate plenty of pressure and scoring chances in the second, but Bea Francisco held firm in goal for the Thunderbirds on Saturday at Wright field to earn her second clean sheet of the year in a 3-0 UBC win.

A quick strike by Laura Matthew gave UBC the lead less than two minutes in, setting the tone for the first 35 minutes to be dictated by UBC. The T-Birds controlled the flow of play early on in their home opener, doubling their lead midway through the half when Matthew made a long run with the ball into the circle and fought off a Calgary defender with her back to the goal before spinning and firing a shot high inside the left post.

"The first half was good and I was hoping the second would be more of the same, but it wasn't so we have to figure out what went wrong," said  UBC head coach Hash Kanjee. "I don't think Calgary changed anything, I just think we made life easy for them."

The Dinos had significantly more ball possession and pressure in the second half, leading to numerous chances in the circle and short corner opportunities to test Francisco.

Ten minutes into the half she made her first of many diving saves on a Dinos short corner to keep the score 2-0 UBC. She also closed down a short corner opportunity late in the match with a well-timed charge out of her net to knock the ball away before the Dinos could get a clean shot off.

She saved her best effort for last though, preserving the clean sheet with multiple diving and sprawling saves on the goaline to shut the door on the Dinos' final short corner chance as time expired amid frantic action around the UBC goal.

"I thought we played really well in the first half, but I have no idea what happened in the second," said Kanjee. "I have my gut instincts, and we will be addressing those, but we just made life very difficult for ourselves and if it hadn't been for Bea it could have quite easily been 2-1 or 2-2. She played very well today."

Shanlee Johnston added UBC's third goal late in the match, burying a rebound that the 'Birds were able to keep alive in the circle after Poonam Sandhu's initial shot.

The win moves UBC into a three-way tie for first in Canada West at 2-1 along with Calgary and the Alberta Pandas. The 'Birds will get a chance to separate themselves from the Dinos on Sunday when they wrap up the weekend set at Wright Field. Game time is 1 p.m.

Source: UBC Sports Info

Toronto 6, McGill 0 Final

TORONTO - The CIS defending champion Varsity Blues field hockey team defeated the Western Mustangs and McGill Marlets on Saturday, September 24 at Varsity Centre.

With the wins, the Blues improve to 5-0 and remain in first place in the OUA standings.

Sophomore forward Alex Thicke scored the eventual game winner in the 21st minute as the Blues blanked the Mustangs 2-0 in their first game of the day.  Fellow North Vancouver, B.C., native Kelley Lusk added the insurance marker in the 62nd minute off a corner.

The Blues went on to shut out the McGill Martlets 6-0 in the second game of the day.  Second-year forward Alexandra Evanyshyn of Burlington, Ont., scored three goals in the 17th, 27th and 56th minutes of the match. 

Three-time CIS all-Canadian Kaelan Watson notched the game-winner in only the third minute of the match.  Veteran Katherine MacNeil and Lauren Mansfield also added single tallies in the win.

Goaltender Katherine Williams earned two shut outs on the day.

The Varsity Blues return to the field tomorrow afternoon as they host the OUA defending champion Guelph Gryphons at Varsity Centre. Game time is set for 1:15 p.m.

Source: Toronto Sports Info