With wins on Saturday, UVic and York secured a gold medal rematch
The rain had subsided, but the wind had not, as gusts of up to 50 km/h ripped through the fields on the UPEI campus. Saturday was the last day of hockey in the group stage before Sunday’s medal rounds. With two games each in hand, nothing was certain and both of today’s games had significant consequences.
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The first match of the day consisted of coast versus coast. The Vancouver Island UVic Vikes vs. the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers.
After UVic earned consecutive penalty corners, they were finally able to break through and secure the first goal of the match towards the end of the first quarter. Molly Harris injected the PC pass and shot straight to the post where she finished off a Julia Boraston shot to get the Vikes on the board. Just a few minutes later, at the start of the second quarter, UVic again showed their PC prowess as this time it was U SPORTS Player of the Year, Libby Hogg, with a straight shot from the top of the circle. Hogg showed why she was this season’s MVP as she played a key role in all four of UVic’s penalty corner goals this afternoon.
UPEI hunkered down for most of the game, protecting against UVic’s speed and skill. The unit we saw offensive potential from all weekend includes all-Canadian Kayla Batchilder, the Lawlor sitters and Katie Grace Noye. Today the Vikes were just too much as the hosts couldn’t generate enough offense to gain a foothold in this match. GK Bria Matthews, who was strong in yesterday’s match against York, had another great game in the net, but in the end the Islanders from the West won this match and secured a place in tomorrow afternoon’s gold medal match.
UVic goalkeeper Anais Chace said the team brought “Vikes hockey” to the field this afternoon. “We bonded as a team, we were tenacious and trusted our skills and relied on each other. The key to our success is that we connect, both on and off the field. We support each other, we are there for each other and we play well together.”
UPEI and UVIC will play their last group match on Saturday. Photos/Yan Huckendubler.
During this afternoon’s match against Dal, the York U Lions had not found the back of the net. For a team that filled the net during the regular season, they knew the key to their success would be converting the first goal of the match. And sure enough, after quite a bit of pressure and a penalty corner, Sabine Keon deflected a shot from Katie Tye to get York on the board in the first quarter. Things continued from there as the Lions continued to outflank the Dalhousie Tigers on their own for most of the match.
Dalhousie’s all-Canadian duo Sanne Meijer vanLoendersloot and Molly Doyle and sophomore midfielder Abby Henn continued to impress, as they have all weekend. But their quick skills and attacking runs never found much momentum in today’s match. It was all York all day.
Wave after wave of York attacks led by Avery Davis, Juliet Redelaar, Elise Piper, Gates McAllister and Kathryn Carlow descended on the Dal defenders. Redelaar added a second and third quarter marker and Jewel Lew also scored a goal. Tye got her name on the scoresheet and scored a penalty in the final minutes of the match. York goalkeeper Ella Ciesielski kept her net empty and has yet to allow a goal in the tournament.
Today’s action sets the stage for the medal rounds for Championship Sunday. UPEI and Dalhousie will play for bronze, a rematch of the Atlantic University Field Hockey championship game. The teams played to a dramatic 1-1 draw on Thursday. UVic tops its pool and will face York University in the championship game, a rematch of last year’s gold medal game. Their match on Thursday was also a draw, making for an exciting Sunday in Charlottetown. Watch the Field Hockey Canada University Championships medal games on the CBC Sports YouTube channel.
York beats Dal to close out the group stage. Photos/Yan Huckendubler.
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