Tension mounts as two draws kick off the tournament in Charlottetown
It was a repeat of last year’s gold medal match and it did not disappoint. The opening match of this year’s 2025 University Championship featured a defensive 0-0 battle between the York University Lions and the University of Victoria Vikes.
UVic rightfully entered the tournament as the favorite and winner of the last five university championships. UVic finished with the best record in western Canada, tying another west coast powerhouse, UBC. York qualified as hosts last year. This year they won the conference and waded their way through the OUA massacre with Waterloo, U of T and Guelph.
Both teams are packed with talent. The Vikes have all-Canadian Maeve Connorton and Libby Hogg. Hogg was also named co-winner of the Liz Hoffman Player of the Year this season. They also have a lot of talent from Field Hockey Canada’s junior national team and the NextGen pipeline. That, combined with the coaching tandem of Krista Thompson and FHC Hall of Famer, Lynne Beecroft, UVic will always be a force to be reckoned with at this event.
The York Lions, a back-to-back qualifier for the new ‘final-four’ college championships, are also loaded from top to bottom. All-Canadian Kathryn Carlow leads an experienced team with Elise Piper, Abby Thompson, Jewel Lew, Avery Davis and second-year scorer Gates McAllister.
The teams traded early chances, with York securing the first penalty corner of the match. The teams felt each other out and played conservatively in midfield, avoiding exposing themselves. UVic found some juice in the second quarter and pressed hard. Back and forth they went with York winning the possession and opportunity battle in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, UVic turned up the pressure and kept York in for the final ten minutes. Despite chances on both sides, neither team managed to crack the scoreboard and the match ended in a nil-nil draw.
Lions captain Abby Thompson said she is proud of the team’s effort today and how this match will shape the rest of the event for York.
“We’ve had a great season after winning OUAs. Everyone is really trying their best and peaking at the right time,” Thompson said. She added that she believes the team is handling the quick turnaround well after last weekend’s OUA championships. “Because our season is so fast… with two games per weekend. That’s what we chose.”
Photos from the first day’s match between York and UVic. Photos/Yan Huckendubler
On a beautiful, crisp afternoon in Charlottetown, the hometown PEI Panthers and the Dalhousie Tigers played out a thrilling 1-1 draw to close out the first day of action of the 2025 University Championships. Atlantic powerhouse UPEI were on the back foot for much of the match, but late heroics saved the day in a tight regional clash.
Dalhousie entered the tournament as a runner-up in the Atlantic University Field Hockey League, returning to the national tournament for the first time in more than a decade. They have two all-Canadians in fourth-year Sanne Meijer from Loendersloot, and Molly Doyle leads an experienced squad with some quality youngsters (Rookie of the Year nominee Sarah Viau) and a wealth of experience (seven upperclassmen).
The UPEI Panthers are led by coach of the year Lacey MacLauchlan and Atlantic Conference MVP and all-Canadian Kayla Batchilder. They are coming off their fourth straight Atlantic title and are looking to do some damage at the national tournament.
Dalhousie was looking for some redemption after losing the Atlantic final 3-0 to UPEI. The Tigers provided the early pressure. Both teams earned some circle entries and PCs in the first half, but Dal largely carried the game. Midway through the second quarter, Abby Henn escaped the D for a breakaway and earned a penalty shot. Meijer vanLoendersloot made no mistake by firing the shot into the top corner and putting Dal ahead 1-0 in the second half.
Dalhousie’s coach, Danielle Dempsey, made her team look airtight and came on fire as they jumped the Panthers again in the third quarter. But there was still plenty of fight on MacLauchlan’s side as they earned several PCs in the closing minutes of the third. Daylight diminished in the fourth quarter, but the action increased. The Panthers regained their offensive confidence and pressured the Tigers until the bitter end. Batchilder showed why she was the leading scorer in the Atlantic this season when she finished a broken play tightly and leveled the match in the final two minutes.
The horn sounded, ending the first day of play in dramatic fashion. At the end of the first day it is evenly balanced across the board with two draws. In tomorrow’s matchups, UVic takes on Dalhousie and UPEI faces York. Watch all the action from the Field Hockey Canada University Championships on the CBC Sports YouTube channel.
UPEI and Dal battle it out at the buzzer in a 1-1 draw in Charlottetown. Photos/Yan Huckendubler.
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