2017 National Championships: Day 4

Day 4 saw the 2017 Nationals has hit the halfway mark! The day also marked the start of the U23 Women’s tournament, oversaw the U18’s continue pool play, and the U15 Girls teams battled out their semi-final match ups before heading to the medal rounds in Day 5.

The day started bright and early with an 8 AM game time for the U15 Girls Albertan team who faced Quebec. The first half between the two teams had a fair amount of back and forth play but the scoreboard sat empty until minutes to go when Kiya Gosselin reached for the back of the net. Alberta headed into the second half with the 1-0 lead and made sure to secure it four minutes into the second half with a goal from Hayley Forbes. Katherine Eamon of Alberta pushed the final pin in the game with a goal late in the second half, leaving the score at 3-0 for Alberta.

With the same early start, the U18 Women’s Ontario Select and Alberta squared off on the other pitch. Ontario pushed for an early lead eight minutes in with a goal from Katie Ritter and added to their lead a minute to go in the first half, to go into half time with a 2-0 lead. But, Alberta came back with a vengeance. They unleashed a series of offences led by Holly Richmond and Harsimran Dogra who managed to score two goals each for their team, helping earning their 4-2 win.

Ontario East and the B.C. Royal Lions of the U15 Girls continued play next. The match up was super tight with the Lions initially leading from the middle of the first half, until Ontario answered in the second to tie it up. Late in the game Kenzie Girgis of Ontario East took two back to back green cards but B.C. couldn’t capitalize, leaving the score stuck at 1-1.

In a super high intensity game mid-morning, Ontario and the B.C. Rams made a decidedly exciting game for those who were watching. The B.C. Rams took a couple cards in the first but managed to squeeze in a goal regardless as they capitalized on a short corner call. Ontario answered with it’s own green card, then a goal of their own to leave the first tied at 1. The B.C. Rams came out in the second half fired up, and scored within the first minute back into play. Connor Rutledge led the Rams with two goals before the referees called it a day as time ran out, leaving the score 5-3 for the B.C.

The U18 Women were up next as Ontario East and the B.C. Lions stormed the field. The match-up proved to be solid as the score stayed stagnant in a 0-0 tie until the 50th minute when Bailey Mitchell ripped her stick to hit the back of the net for the Lions. The game ended with a couple of green and yellow cards for both teams, but neither team could find the back to of the net, so B.C. took the win 1-0.

In the last game of the morning the U18 B.C. Lions took on Alberta. The Lions came out with two back to back goals in the 10th and 12 minute from Jason Dhawliwal to give the team a 2-0 lead. Seven minutes later team Alberta found the back of the net from Harjot Dhaliwal on a short corner play. His teammate Gurkirat Sran followed up with another goal four minutes later to tie it up. The B.C. Lions came roaring back with a goal from Jarod Timmins to take back the lead in the 22nd minute giving the Lions a 3-2 lead. The Lions extended their lead in an exciting second half that saw Timmins add another goal to his stats sheet and to send it home, Aiden Doherty hit the back of the net to leave the final score at 5-2 for the Lions.

The U18 B.C. Stags and Ontario Central were next on the docket to begin afternoon play. Although sunny, the rain started to fall as the teams hit the turf to battle it out. The first half proved to be a tight back and forth game with no score until late in the 34th minute when Anna Mollenhauer, daughter of Canadian field hockey legend and Olympian Nancy Mollenhauer, lit up the scoreboard. Ontario Central couldn’t find the back of the net all game and the B.C. Stags ended up taking the game in a 3-0 shutout by the time the final whistle blew.

At this point in the day it was time for the Girls U15 Semi-Final games. The first match-up saw Ontario West pitted against the B.C. Lions in an incredibly exciting, tight game. Ontario West led the scoring with a goal from Ava Murphy off a short corner call. Two minutes later the Lions came charging with team captain Caitlin Miller scoring off their own short corner in the other end. Teammate Ava MacFarlane answered five minutes later to ensure B.C. headed into halftime with a slight 2-1 lead. The second half featured more back and forth play and varied possession. The Lions scored early in the second half with a rocket from Taylor Katsube, but a green card for Brianna Azevedo lead to a goal from Ontario West’s team captain Ella Murphy on a short corner. Ontario stayed down a goal 2-3 for most of the second until Kathryn Ferguson converted a short corner into a goal in the 56th minute. And although some late green cards handed out to Ontario West, B.C. couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity, so sitting at a 3-3 tie, the game went into shootout. Ontario West didn’t miss a shot and took the Semi-Final win in the end and move on to play in the Gold/Silver game.

In lower pool play the Ontario Central and Quebec of the U15 Girls tournament played each other in a tight, relatively clean game that saw a gridlock when it came to hitting the back of the net. Neither team could light up the scoreboard, so as time ran out, the score sat 0-0.

In the last Semi-Final game of the evening, the U15 Girls B.C. Rams and B.C. Stags took each other on in an inter-provincial battle for the chance to play for gold. The first half was back and forth until the Rams broke the 0-0 seal with a goal from Holly Tarves, which was quickly punctuated by another goal from team captain Jenna Buglioni two minutes later. The Rams added to their score in the second to lead 3-0, while play on the field seemed to get rougher. A couple green cards and a yellow were handed out, but neither team were able to convert the advantage into goals. The game finished with the Rams leading 3-0 to face Ontario West in the Final U15 Girls game in Day 5.

As the U15 teams headed to the Championship Social at the Pacific Inn, Surrey, play continued for the rest of the tournament. The U18 Ontario and Quebec Men’s team loaded up on the turf that decidedly was Ontario’s game. The team came out right off the whistle in the first minute two ensure an early lead. Ontario captain Jagpreet Singh scored two goals in the first, with teammate Evan Davidson hitting the back of the net twice as well, to lead the team to a high scoring 6-3 win over Quebec.

The U18 Women were back on the turf as Ontario West challenged the B.C. Rams in Pool A play. Ontario West team captain Katie Lynes capitalized on a short corner chance in the 18th minute and the game stayed like that with back and forth play for the majority of the game until William Mackenzie ripped one into the back of the net off a short corner to ensure a 2-0 lead. Play seemed to disintegrate a little bit from the B.C. Rams, who added up two green cards following the goal, but there was no change in score as Ontario West took the 2-0 win.

The U18 Men played their last game in the evening rolling into 6PM as the B.C. Lions played the B.C Rams. The game started out rough with an assortment of green and yellow cards handed out to the Rams within the first few minutes (with two in the same minute for Connor Rutledge). Nonetheless, the Rams still managed to score the first goal off a short corner from a snipe form Harpreet Benipal. The Lions responded three minutes later with a short corner conversion of their own and the match headed 1-1 into halftime. Connor Rutledge came back out of his carding mistakes in the second to score a goal a couple minutes into the second half, and the time ran out with the 2-1 win for B.C. Rams.

The U23 Women kicked off their tournament late in the evening with the B.C. Rams taking on Alberta in a high scoring shootout that saw the B.C. Rams take the win 7-0. Caitlyn Anson lead her team in scoring with a hat trick, with teammate Brianna Ricker close behind with two goals of her own.

The last game of the evening saw a more closely matched game between U23 Women’s Ontario team and the B.C. Lions. While the B.C. Lions came out early with two goals in the first. They were unable to hold onto their lead as Ontario built momentum with two goals from Alison Lee to lead the team to a 3-2 win.

While the U23 tournament played on, the Championship Social hit it off for the U15 and U18 teams at the Pacific Inn, Surrey. A banquet style dinner, speeches, and the best 11 players of the U15 Boys and Girls tournament were announced, with Griffon backpacks from the Field Hockey Shack given to the winners in each division.

Congratulations to all 2017 U15 Boys and Girls Tournament 11 winners!

For photographs of the event and the rest of Day 4 head over to our Facebook page.

For the full tournament schedule, click here.