TORONTO (CIS) – The UBC Thunderbirds needed to win big, and win big they did as the three-time reigning champions defeated the Guelph Gryphons 7-1 to wrap up preliminary play at the 40th CIS-FHC field hockey championship at Back Campus Fields.
UBC and the Victoria Vikes end the preliminary round with identical 1-1-1 records, but the T-Birds advance based on goal differential.
It will be the sixth-straight CIS gold-medal match appearance for the Canada West powerhouses and the seventh time in championship history they will battle the Toronto Varsity Blues for the national banner.
The gold-medal match is set for 3 p.m. on Sunday, with Victoria and Guelph scheduled to battle for bronze at 1 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on CIS-SIC.tv.
T-Birds midfielder Gabby Jayme of Richmond, B.C. opened the scoring in the third minute of the match and UBC added to their lead with goals from Meghan Hayden (North Vancouver), Emily Martin (North Vancouver), Poonam Sandhu (Vancouver) and Molly Driscoll (Delta, B.C.) to take a commanding 5-0 lead at the half.
UBC struck again in the first minute of the second half as Hayden notched her second of the game and 2014 CIS all-Canadian Hannah Haughn added another in the 41st minute, her second of the tournament.
“We came into this game knowing what we needed to accomplish and we really went for it,” said Hayden, a second-year UBC defender and midfielder from North Vancouver. “I think we came together in this game and played really well as a team. We’re going to rest tonight and recover well and I think we’re ready to face the challenge that Toronto poses tomorrow.”
The Gryphons did break the shut out in the 43rd minute with a goal from Ally Chute (Greenfield Park, Que.) off a penalty corner opportunity, but that was all that Guelph could muster in the loss. The Gryphons will appear in their seventh straight bronze-medal match tomorrow and vie for their fifth consecutive podium finish.
“We have to regroup,” said Gryphons head coach Michelle Turley. “They executed exceptionally well on their penalty corners, but the second half was a 2-1 game. I thought we had a great second half. We’re the only team that has scored on U of T so we know we are capable of scoring goals. We’re really excited for play for our fifth bronze and we want to bring it home. I think it will be a great match up.”
SCORING SUMMARY
UBC: 5-2: 7
GUE: 0-1: 1
First half
UBC Gabby Jayme (1), 4th minute
UBC Meghan Hayden (1), 17th minute
UBC Emily Martin (1), 21st minute
UBC Poonam Sandhu (1), 30th minute
UBC Molly Driscoll (1), 32nd minute
Second half
UBC Meghan Hayden (2), 36th minute
UBC Hannah Haughn (2), 41st minute
GUE Ally Chute (1), 43rd minute
Goaltenders
UBC: Lauren Logush (W, 70:00, 1 GA, 1-1-1)
GUE: Morgan Kelley (L, 44:00, 7 GA, 0-2-0)
Shinai
Sorensen (26:00, 0 GA, 0-1-0)
Players of the game
UBC: Elizabeth Self (Vancouver, B.C.)
GUE: Melissa Vogl (North Vancouver, B.C.)
STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Round-robin standings
GP W L T GF GA PTS
1. Toronto 3 3 0 0 8 1 9
2. UBC 3 1 1 1 8 5 4
3. Victoria 3 1 1 1 4 4 4
4. Guelph 3 0 3 0 4 14 0
NOTE: 3 points for a win and 1 point for a tie.
Thursday, Oct. 30
16:30 Game 1: Victoria 3, Guelph 2
18:30 Game 2: Toronto 3, UBC 0
Friday, Oct. 31
16:30 Game 3: Toronto 4, Guelph 1
18:30 Game 4: Victoria 1, UBC 1
Saturday, Nov. 1
13:00 Game 5: Toronto 1, Victoria 0
15:00 Game 6: UBC 7, Guelph 1
Sunday, Nov. 2
13:00 Bronze medal: Victoria vs Guelph (CIS-SIC.tv)
15:00 Championship final: Toronto vs UBC (CIS-SIC.tv)
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, over 11,500 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 56 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:
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