VICTORIA (CIS) – The third-seeded University of Victoria
Vikes hope to become only the second team in history to capture
back-to-back McCrae Cups on home turf when they host the CIS
women’s field hockey championship for the second consecutive
year, from Nov. 5-8.
The same five teams will compete for the McCrae Cup for the second
straight season as the Vikes, second-place finishers in the Canada
West conference this fall, will be joined on the West Coast by the
top-seeded and OUA champion Guelph Gryphons, No. 2 and Canada West
champion UBC Thunderbirds, No. 4 and OUA finalist Toronto Varsity
Blues, and No. 5 and Canada West third-place finisher Alberta
Pandas.
A year ago, in a surprising national final between the two lowest
seeds, No. 4-Victoria edged No. 5-Alberta 2-1 to tie UBC’s
all-time record of 11 McCrae Cup triumphs, one more than
Toronto.
The 2009 tournament gets under way Thursday with the first of three
days of round-robin competition. Every team will face each of its
rivals once, with the two squads with the best records at the end
of the preliminary round advancing to Sunday’s national final
at 1 p.m. Pacific Time.
No. 1 Guelph and No. 2 UBC kick off the tourney Thursday at 9:30
a.m. PT, with Victoria opening its title defence versus Toronto at
11:50 a.m. PT.
Since the first CIS championship in 1975, only the Toronto Varsity
Blues have been crowned at home in consecutive seasons, back in
1985 and 1986.
The last repeat champions were the UBC Thunderbirds, who hoisted
the Cup in Toronto (at York) in 2003 and in Edmonton (at Alberta)
in 2004. Victoria has claimed back-to-back titles on two occasions,
first in 1991 and 1992, then in 1994 and 1995.
Victoria, UBC and Toronto have dominated CIS women’s field
hockey over the years, winning 32 of 34 banners. Alberta, in 2005,
and Dalhousie, back in 1976, boast the other titles.
While the Vikes are defending champions and will have home-field
advantage, the two favourites heading into this week’s
tourney are Guelph and UBC, who met in the bronze-medal game a year
ago with the Thunderbirds prevailing 3-0.
The top-ranked Gryphons are undefeated in 2009, going 12-0-2 in
conference play before adding two victories in the playoffs
including a 1-0 gold-medal win over Toronto for their second OUA
title in three years – and the second in team history.
Guelph, whose best result at the CIS tournament is a silver-medal
finish in 2007, is led by the prolific Stairs sister from
Kitchener, Ont. Brienne, a third-year junior, was named OUA MVP
this season after she led the nation for the second straight year
with 30 goals in 14 conference games, while younger sister Tegan
was selected OUA rookie of the year following a seven-goal
campaign.
“This is amazing. We’ve worked so hard all year and it
finally came together,” said Tegan after she tipped in a shot
from Brienne for the only goal of the OUA final.
“That was the best game she’s ever played in her
life,” said sixth-year Guelph head coach Michelle Turley.
“It was a great experience for her to get ready for this week
coming up.”
For the No. 2-Thunderbirds, the 2009 campaign was business as
usual.
UBC finished first in the Canada West standings with a solid 10-2
mark to claim their seventh straight conference banner (there are
no playoffs in the Canada West). The T-Birds, who posted six
shutouts in 12 outings, were particularly impressive against
archrival Victoria, going a perfect 4-0 in head-to-head competition
while outscoring the Vikes by an 8-2 margin.
What the T-Birds desperately want however is taste CIS gold again.
Their current two-year gold-medal drought is their longest since
they went seven seasons without a title from 1991 to 1997.
No. 4-Toronto, crowned CIS champion for the last time on home turf
in 2007, played Guelph tough all season despite being held to a
draw and two losses in three meetings with the Gryphons. In
addition to the loss in the OUA final, the Blues dropped a 2-1
head-to-head decision on Sept. 26 and battled to a 3-3 tie on Oct.
9.
No. 5-Alberta (3-7-2), led by Canada West player of the year Jackie
Trautman, struggled this fall under interim head coach A.J. Facendi
with only three wins in 12 Canada West duels but did beat UBC 1-0
on Oct. 4 and had two ties and a pair of close-fought 1-0 losses
against Victoria.
And the Pandas know anything can happen at the CIS championship
after reaching the final as the fifth seed a year ago.
TEAM PROFILES
No. 1 Guelph Gryphons (OUA champions)
Head Coach: Michelle Turley (6th season)
2009 regular season record: 12-0-2
2009 regular season standing: 1st OUA
2009 playoff record: 2-0
2009 playoff finish: OUA champions
Conference award winners: Brienne Stairs (MVP), Tegan Stairs
(rookie of the year)
Conference 1st team all-stars: Krissy Wishart, Brienne Stairs,
Angela Lancaster
Conference 2nd team all-stars: Tegan Stairs
CIS championship best result: silver medallists (2007)
CIS championship last appearance: 2008 (4th)
CIS championship sequence: 3rd straight appearance, 4th in 5 years
(4th in history)
No. 2 UBC Thunderbirds (Canada West champions)
Head Coach: Hash Kanjee (17th season)
2009 regular season record: 10-2-0
2009 regular season standing: 1st Canada West
2009 playoff record: no playoffs in CW
2009 playoff finish: no playoffs in CW
Conference award winners: Abigail Raye (rookie of the year)
Conference 1st team all-stars: Elise Milosevich, Abigail Raye,
Robyn Pendleton, Kristyn Harrington
Conference 2nd team all-stars: no second team in CW
CIS championship best result: 11-time champions (2006, ‘04,
‘03, ‘01, 1999, ‘98, ‘90, ‘83,
‘82, ‘80, ‘78)
CIS championship last appearance: 2008 (bronze)
CIS championship sequence: 12th straight appearance, 22nd in 23
years
No. 3 Victoria Vikes (second place Canada West)
Head Coach: Lynne Beecroft (26th season)
2009 regular season record: 5-4-3
2009 regular season standing: 2nd Canada West
2009 playoff record: no playoffs in CW
2009 playoff finish: no playoffs in CW
Conference award winners: none
Conference 1st team all-stars: Perri Espeseth, Katie Collison,
Kaitlyn Williams
Conference 2nd team all-stars: no second team in CW
CIS championship best result: 11-time champions (2008, ’02,
’00, 1997, ’95, ’94, ’92, ’91,
’89, ’87, ‘84)
CIS championship last appearance: 2008 (champions)
CIS championship sequence: 4th straight appearance, 26th in 27
years
No. 4 Toronto Varsity Blues (OUA finalists)
Head Coach: John DeSouza (3rd season)
2009 regular season record: 10-1-3
2009 regular season standing: 2nd OUA
2009 playoff record: 1-1
2009 playoff finish: OUA finalists
Conference award winners: none
Conference 1st team all-stars: Hannah Tighe, Kyesa O’Neale,
Kristen Shier, Kaelan Watson
Conference 2nd team all-stars: Rianna Sterk
CIS championship best result: 10-time champions (2007, 1996,
’93, ’88, ’86, ’85, ’81, ’79,
’77, ’75)
CIS championship last appearance: 2008 (5th)
CIS championship sequence: 6th straight appearance, 33rd in 35
years (since first CIS championship in 1975)
No. 5 Alberta Pandas (third place Canada West)
Head Coach: A.J. Facendi (1st season - interim)
2009 regular season record: 3-7-2
2009 regular season standing: 3rd Canada West
2009 playoff record: no playoffs in CW
2009 playoff finish: no playoffs in CW
Conference award winners: Jackie Trautman (MVP), Jennifer Foster
(CIS Outstanding Contributor Award nominee)
Conference 1st team all-stars: Jackie Trautman, Jennifer Foster,
Bunny Hughes
Conference 2nd team all-stars: no second team in CW
CIS championship best result: 1-time CIS champions (2005)
CIS championship last appearance: 2008 (silver)
CIS championship sequence: 2nd straight appearance, 5th in 6
years
CIS WOMEN’S
FIELD HOCKEY CHAMPIONS (McCrae Cup)
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 *
* Before McCrae Cup
CHAMPIONSHIP
SEEDING & SCHEDULE (All times local: Pacific
Time)
For all the info on the 2009 CIS women’s field hockey
championship, visit: www.cis-sic.ca .
1. Guelph Gryphons (OUA champions / 12-0-2 regular season, 3-0
playoffs)
2. UBC Thunderbirds (Canada West champions / 10-2-0 regular season,
no playoffs)
3. Victoria Vikes (Second place Canada West / 5-4-3 regular season,
no playoffs)
4. Toronto Varsity Blues (OUA finalists / 10-1-3 regular season,
2-1 playoffs)
5. Alberta Pandas (Third place Canada West / 3-7-2 regular season,
no playoffs)
Wednesday, Nov. 4
18:30 All-Canadian Awards Banquet
Thursday, Nov. 5
9:30 Round-Robin 1: Guelph vs. UBC
11:50 Round-Robin 2: Victoria vs. Toronto
15:30 Round-Robin 3: UBC vs. Alberta
17:50 Round-Robin 4: Guelph vs. Toronto
Friday, Nov. 6
10:00 Round-Robin 5: Victoria vs. UBC
12:20 Round-Robin 6: Toronto vs. Alberta
16:00 Round-Robin 7: Guelph vs. Victoria
Saturday, Nov. 7
10:00 Round-Robin 8: Victoria vs. Alberta
12:20 Round-Robin 9: UBC vs. Toronto
16:00 Round-Robin 10: Guelph vs. Alberta
17:30 Tie-Breaking Strokes (if necessary)
Sunday, Nov. 8
10:00 Bronze medal
13:00 Championship final
- CIS -