UBC Thunderbirds take home record 20th U SPORTS field hockey championship

Photos/Yan Huckendubler

November 9, 2026 | Field Hockey Canada | fieldhockey.ca

Host Waterloo Warriors secure bronze on home turf

The final day at the 2026 National Bank Field Hockey Canada U SPORTS Championship, presented by Farm Mutual Re delivered a bronze medal victory in front of the home crowd, and a long-awaited return to the top of the podium for UBC.

Warriors defeat Panthers for home field bronze

Although disappointed to come out third after pool play, the Waterloo Warriors wasted no time surging into their bronze medal tilt vs the UPEI Panthers. Femke Boland opened the scoring via penalty corner in the fifth minute and Sarah Schnarr added a marker in the ninth. Waterloo carried the majority of the play and fired in an extra insurance goal off the stick of Brooke Walsh.

UPEI standout Charlotte Thompson continued to be a steady force in the backfield and in support of all movement forward. She’s steady on the ball and distributes well up-field. All-Canadian Kayla Batchilder also put on a great performance this week. She has an endless motor and skill to match. Much of the offense that UPEI develops comes off the runs of Batchilder. The PEI goalkeeping duo of Alexis Marshall and Bria Mathews were remarkable as they evenly split time during the tournament. Combined, they faced the most shots by a considerable margin and worked tirelessly, facing more than 50 penalty corners. For the UPEI Panthers, they will be disappointed not to get a result, but the opportunity to compete at this level gives them momentum going forward.

The hosts, Waterloo Warriors put on a great show this week. They finished with two wins over UPEI, a draw vs Toronto and a narrow 2-1 loss to UBC. Stellar play by the Blackburn sisters, Brooke Walsh, Tiffany Binkle and terrific goaltending from Grace Miller led this Waterloo team to a formidable championship weekend.

“Yesterday wasn’t what we wanted, but today we knew that there was a medal on the line,” said Walsh, a native of Stratford, P.E.I. “We were just working together, that’s what made us get this medal today, and I’m just so proud of this team.”

It’s the second U SPORTS bronze medal in three seasons for the Warriors, who also defeated UPEI in the bronze medal match in 2024.

Photos/Yan Huckendubler

Thunderbirds beat Varsity Blues in back-and-forth final

The UBC Thunderbirds are national champions again, for the first time since 2017. They needed a hard-fought 2-1 victory over a Toronto team that played them to a 1-1 draw back on the championship’s opening day to get there.

Like that game on Thursday, the offensive chances came often and early for both teams in Sunday’s rematch, with Toronto earning a penalty corner just seconds into the match. UBC was able to successfully defend, and goalkeeper Pascale Pottier looked calm and composed despite the early flurry. Recently named U SPORTS Coach of the Year Geoff Matthews continued his strategy of rotating his goalkeepers, as Pottier started the first and third quarters while Robyn Goh held down the fort in the second and fourth. Both were excellent.

UBC showed again how deadly they are on the counter-attack, as it was captain Kenzie Girgis who broke the deadlock for the Thunderbirds in the tenth minute.

“We knew we had to come out strong, U of T’s a great team” said Girgis after the match, McCrae Cup in hand. “I thought we played really connected together, were confident and really believed we could win.”

That belief was well-founded, as the Thunderbirds held the advantage in possession through most of the middle stretch of this game, limiting Toronto’s opportunities to equalize. Amy Stelling potted the insurance goal in the 51^st minute, a goal that would prove to be the winner.

Toronto rallied late and were able to get past Goh in the 60^th minute. Fittingly, it was Maggie Mullins, Varsity Blues Captain, U SPORTS Player of the Year, and Field Hockey Canada U SPORTS Championship MVP, who scored for Toronto. With just seconds remaining on the clock, however, the Thunderbirds were able to hold on and secure their 20^th U SPORTS championship, the most of any program in the championship’s 51-year history.

“It’s unbelievable, this team has been through so much together,” said Girgis. “My family, they came out here, and most of my teammates’ families were able to make the long trip out here to come and support, it means a lot.”