Photo credit Guelph Athletics
GUELPH, Ont. (CIS) – The University of Guelph Gryphons,
hosts of the 2010 national championship, claimed their first-ever
CIS bronze medal in women’s field hockey on Sunday morning
thanks to a convincing 3-0 win over the Victoria Vikes.
Fourth-year forward Brienne Stairs of Kitchener, Ont., showed why
she was named the CIS player of the year each of the past two
seasons, scoring all three goals for the winning side.
The game was a rematch of last year’s CIS bronze-medal duel,
won 2-1 by Victoria.
In four previous appearances at the CIS tourney, the Gryphons had
reached the podium on one occasion, in 2007, when they dropped a
1-0 overtime decision to Toronto in the final.
“Scoring three goals in the bronze medal game, she came out
just like she has all season,” Gryphons head coach Michelle
Turley said of Stairs. “There’s not a bone in her body
that will ever want to lose. That ignites the rest of our team
because we are so competitive. She had a sensational end to her
career.”
Sophomore goaltender Kaye McLagan of Mitchell, Ont., earned the
shutout. She was aided by the strong defensive core comprised of
Samantha Anderson of Delta, B.C., Lauren Goodmanson of Victoria,
Jessica Jarrell of Guelph and co-captain Courtney Lacey, also a
Guelph native.
Anderson was named Guelph player of the game for her
performance.
“They were intercepting the ball like crazy today. They
played great,” Stairs said of her defensive teammates.
“All of them together as a team - they played
awesome.”
Established tournament favourites prior to the event, the OUA
champion Gryphons bounced back after a disappointing round robin
where they finished fourth with a 1-3 record, and finally did what
they were expected to do all tournament.
The potent Guelph offence got going early.
Tegan Stairs of Kitchener, Brienne’s all-Canadian sister,
stripped the ball off the Vikes at the half and carried it up the
centre of the field and into the circle before dishing it off her
sibling, who put the ball in the open net in the seventh
minute.
The Vikes had some chances before halftime but missed just wide or
were shut down by the strong Guelph defence, keeping the game 1-0
heading into the break.
Guelph’s all-Canadian forward line of the Stairs sisters and
Brittany Seidler of Oliver, B.C., kept the offensive pressure up in
the second frame as Seidler found Brienne in the circle. Stairs
then pulled it to her backhand and flicked it past keeper Kaitlyn
Williams into the netting with 25 minutes to play.
Stairs completed her natural hat-trick in the 57th minute by
beating Williams on a reverse sweep at the penalty flick mark.
Despite the loss, all-Canadian Perri Espeseth of Duncan, B.C., was
a dominant presence in the backfield for Victoria. Fellow CIS
all-star Danielle Hennig of Kelowna, B.C., was named game MVP for
the Vikes.
GAME NOTES: This was Guelph’s third consecutive trip to the
CIS bronze-medal game, following a 3-0 loss to UBC in 2008 and a
2-1 loss to Victoria in 2009... The Gryphons were playing at the
CIS championship for the fifth time in team history (2010, 2009,
2008, 2007, 2005)... Guelph is now 2-2-1 all-time against Victoria
at the CIS championship... The Vikes had medalled in each of their
previous 15 appearances (in 16 years) at the CIS tournament since
1994... Victoria had failed to qualify for the championship in
2005...
SCORING
SUMMARY
GUE 1-2:3
VIC 0-0:0
First half
7th, GUE, Brienne Stairs (3)
Second half
45th, GUE, Brienne Stairs (4)
57th, GUE, Brienne Stairs (5)
Goaltenders
GUE: Kaye McLagan (W, 70:00, 0 GA, 2-3)
VIC: Kaitlyn Williams (L, 70:00, 3 GA, 2-3)
Players of the game
GUE: Samantha Anderson (Delta, B.C.)
VIC: Danielle Hennig (Kelowna, 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 (FINAL after Saturday)
GP W
L
T
GF
GA PTS
1. Toronto
4 4
0
0 15
2 12
2.
UBC
4
3
1
0
9
4 9
3. Victoria
4
2
2
0
7
5 6
4. Guelph
4
1
3
0
8
10 3
5. Waterloo
4
0
4
0
5
23 0
Thursday, Nov. 4
9:30 Round-Robin 1: UBC 2, Guelph 1
11:50 Round-Robin 2: Toronto 3, Victoria 0
15:30 Round-Robin 3: UBC 6, Waterloo 2
17:50 Round-Robin 4: Victoria 2, Guelph 1
Friday, Nov. 5
10:00 Round-Robin 5: Toronto 1, UBC 0
12:20 Round-Robin 6: Victoria 5, Waterloo 0
16:00 Round-Robin 7: Toronto 4, Guelph 1
Saturday, Nov. 6
10:00 Round-Robin 8: Toronto 7, Waterloo 1
12:20 Round-Robin 9: UBC 1, Victoria 0
16:00 Round-Robin 10: Guelph 5, Waterloo 2
Sunday, Nov. 7
10:00 Bronze medal: Guelph 3, Victoria 0
13:00 Championship final: Toronto vs. UBC
-CIS-