Photo credit APShutter.com
VICTORIA (CIS) – Sophie Jones, a third-year defender from West Vancouver, B.C., scored in the last minute of play to propel the four-time defending national champion UBC Thunderbirds to the gold-medal final of the CIS-FHC women's field hockey championship thanks to a 2-2 draw against the Toronto Varsity Blues, Saturday afternoon at the University of Victoria.
With all four teams finishing the preliminary round with identical 1-1-1 records, the host Victoria Vikes and UBC advanced Sunday's 3 p.m. PT title match on goal differential (Victoria) and goals scored (UBC), while Toronto and the Guelph Gryphons were relegated to the bronze-medal game at 12:30 p.m.
The T-Birds will be looking to add to their record collection with a 16th McCrae Cup, and also to extend their current streak of four straight national titles, another all-time mark. For their part, the Vikes enter the championship game with 11 McCrae Cup triumphs, tied with Toronto for second place in CIS field hockey history.
The last time the B.C. archrivals met for CIS gold was two years ago, also at UVic, a duel UBC dominated 4-1 to improve to 7-3 all-time versus the Vikes in the national final. This season, the Vikes went 3-0-1 in heads-to-head competition during conference play, but the T-Birds prevailed 2-1 on Friday on Day 2 of the CIS tourney.
In the round-robin finale against Toronto, the Thunderbirds earned their tying goal off a penalty corner from Jones, while Canada West MVP Hannah Haughn scored in the first half to tie the affair at 1-1. Rowan Harris was pivotal in goal for the T-Birds with four saves.
"The journey is the best part of what (coaches) do," said an elated UBC head coach Robin D'Abreo. "We start out with a group of relatively young and unexperienced athletes and we watch them transform into a team. More special than that is having a team that performs when it counts and that is really special. It was a really tough way for Toronto to lose and they had such a great performance today so I do really feel for them and all the hard work their coaching staff has put into this."
"It will be a very hard-fought game tomorrow," added D'Abreo about playing Victoria. "It's always tough and physical and there will be no shortage of motivation on both sides."
Toronto earned first-half goals from Alison Lee on a penalty corner and Emma Stairs in free play. Rookie keeper Sara Fredo made six saves in the game, while Amanda Woodcroft, Nicole Woodcroft and first-year defender Hilary Ziraldo had standout performances.
"We missed a lot of chances in the first half and we allowed it to get down to the last moment," said Toronto head coach John De Souza. "It's a tough way to lose obviously and the girls are going to have to recover. I really believe (UBC) is one of the best teams in the country and we don't get that very often. We are disappointed but I'm proud of what we accomplished all season."
UBC started the match off well riding their momentum from yesterday's win as Sarah Keglowitsch earned the T-Birds a penalty corner in the second minute of play. Jones' sweep shot from the top of the circle was saved by the diving stick of Toronto keeper Fredo.
The Varsity Blues continued to generate their attack from CIS Player of the Year Tegan Stairs. The five-foot-ten midfielder drove the right side and hit it across to Ally Evanyshyn whose deflection earned a penalty corner for the Varsity Blues. The set piece resulted in a close-range chance for Nicole Woodcroft but her shot was saved by the right kicker of UBC keeper Harris.
In the 15th minute Toronto had a strong base line run from Lauren Sudac who found UB defender Jones' foot in the circle. Lee sent in an off-paced lifted shot right up the middle to lift Toronto up 1-0.
Toronto continued to push as Harris was forced to make back-to-back saves in the 18th minute. One of the shot's coming on the back hand from Evanyshyn was steered away by the pads of the second-year T-Birds keeper.
The Thunderbirds' back line continued to do well to prevent Toronto from doubling their lead as Evanyshyn had another shot booked for goal as the high ball was past Harris but fifth-year UBC defender Katrina Davis made a goal line save. The Varsity Blues were rewarded a penalty corner on the play that followed but a speedy Gabby Jayme blocked the Toronto set-piece chance.
UBC were fortunate to capitalize after spending the better part of the half defending. A T-Birds penalty corner was taken by Jones but it was blocked and from a near no-angle Haughn buried the rebound on the back-hand to tie the game 1-1.
In the 32nd minute Toronto were able to get back in the lead when Tegan Stairs used her size and speed to attack the right side of the circle. She crossed the ball into Evanyshyn and the fifth year hit the ball towards goal but didn't quite connect on the ball. Fortunately Emma Stairs was there to one-time the ball past Harris for the 2-1 Toronto lead. That score remained at half time.
The second half was a game of patience as most of the play was in midfield. The seniors on the pitch were giving it their all as Amanda Woodcroft and Tegan Stairs were all over the pitch for Toronto and Haughn, Keglowitsch and Davis were doing all they could to desperately get their team level again.
With under five minutes to go Nicole Woodcroft drive the right side and found a UBC foot to give the Varsity Blues another penalty corner opportunity. Toronto were again unable to capitalize leaving their lead still at 2-1.
In the last minute of play the Thunderbirds were able to generate a penalty corner and they relied on Jones to bury it. The West Vancouver, B.C. native notched her second of the tournament on a low sweep hit that beat Fredo to tie the game 2-2 and ultimately book the T-Birds a spot in the championship final on goal differential.
SCORING SUMMARY
UBC: 1-1: 2
TOR: 2-0: 2
First half
TOR Alison Lee (2), 15th minute
UBC Hannah Haughn (2), 27th
TOR Emma Stairs (1), 32nd
Second half
UBC Sophie Jones (2), 70th
Goaltenders
UBC: Rowan Harris (T, 70:00, 2 GA, 1-1-1)
TOR: Sara Fredo (T, 70:00, 2 GA, 1-1-1)
Players of the game
UBC: Hannah Haughn (West Vancouver, B.C.)
TOR: Alison Lee (Mississauga, Ont.)
PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDING
1. Victoria (Canada West champions: 7-0-1 regular season / no playoffs in CW)
2. Toronto (OUA champions: 11-1-0 regular season / 2-0 conference playoffs)
3. UBC (Canada West runners-up: 4-3-1 regular season / no playoffs in CW)
4. Guelph (OUA silver medallists: 11-1-0 regular season / 1-1 conference playoffs)
STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times Pacific Time)
Round-robin standings (FINAL)
GP W L T GF GA PTS
1. Victoria 3 1 1 1 6 4 4
2. UBC 3 1 1 1 5 5 4
3. Toronto 3 1 1 1 5 7 4
4. Guelph 3 1 1 1 4 4 4
NOTE: 3 points for a win and 1 point for a tie.
Thursday, Nov. 5
16:00 Game 1: Guelph 2, UBC 1
18:30 Game 2: Victoria 4, Toronto 1
Friday, Nov. 6
16:00 Game 3: UBC 2, Victoria 1
18:30 Game 4: Toronto 2, Guelph 1
Saturday, Nov. 7
12:30 Game 5: Victoria 1, Guelph 1
15:00 Game 6: UBC 2, Toronto 2
Sunday, Nov. 8
12:30 Bronze Medal: Toronto vs. Guelph (CIS-SIC.tv)
15:00 Championship final: Victoria vs. UBC (CIS-SIC.tv)