Playing their first game at the FHC-CIS women’s field hockey championship since 1997, the third-seeded and tournament host Calgary Dinos scored a trio of late goals to notch a come-from-behind 3-2 win over the No. 4 Guelph Gryphons, Thursday afternoon.
With less than 10 minutes remaining in the second half and Calgary trailing 1-0, Keara Chicquen collected a rebound off a penalty corner opportunity and played it past a sprawling Guelph ‘keeper Kaye McLagan, sparking an offensive burst by the home side. Carolina Romeo added another marker just two minutes later, and Kaitlyn Longworth scored the eventual winner in the 66th minute.
Guelph, the OUA runner-up this season, replied just a minute later when Brittany Seidler beat Calgary netminder Steph Petrowitsch for the second time on the day, but the Gryphons were unable to mount enough offensive pressure in the dying moments to get another good scoring opportunity.
“I asked the team at halftime what they thought they needed to do, and they said we needed to move the ball up faster and get it outside the structure of their defence,” said Jenn Swagar, fifth-year Dinos head coach. “We came out and executed the game plan in the second half. Guelph plays a very tight structure, and we were better against that in the second half. We were rewarded for that at the end.”
The teams alternated periods of offensive pressure throughout the game, and Guelph was rewarded for theirs with a penalty corner opportunity at the 33rd minute. Petrowitsch made a nice save on the play, but on the rebound a penalty stroke was awarded to the Gryphons. Seidler, the OUA most valuable player who scored 26 goals in the 12-game regular season, picked the top left corner of the goal with the stroke to give her side a 1-0 lead.
That lead held up until the 61st minute, when Calgary was awarded a penalty corner while Guelph’s Alexis Wagner was off for a yellow card infraction, putting the Gryphons a player short. McLagan made the initial stop, but the rebound landed on Chicquen’s stick to initiate a spurt of four goals in six minutes by the two teams.
“It was our game, and I thought we really outplayed them except for that lull at the end,” said Guelph head coach Michelle Turley. “They scored two goals when we were a man short, and at this level that’s a big advantage. It was great to come back and get that last goal to cut the margin in case we end up in a tiebreaking situation, and now we have to refocus with the short turnaround before we play Toronto.”
The Gryphons (0-1) return to action later Thursday when they face the No. 1 seed Toronto Varsity Blues (0-1) at 5:50 p.m. Calgary (1-0) next sees action Friday morning when they face the No. 2 UBC Thunderbirds at 10 a.m.
SCORING SUMMARY
CGY 0-3:3
GUE 1-1:2
First half
GUE: Brittany Seidler (1), 33rd
Second half
CGY: Keara Chicquen (1), 61st
CGY: Carolina Romeo (1), 63rd
CGY: Kaitlyn Longworth (1), 66th
GUE: Brittany Seidler (2), 67th
Goaltenders
CGY: Steph Petrowitsch (W, 70:00, 2 GA, 1-0)
GUE: Kaye McLagan (L, 70:00, 3 GA, 0-1)
Players of the game
CGY: Carolina Romeo
GUE: Brittany Seidler
PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDING
1. Toronto (OUA champions)
2. UBC (Canada West champions)
3. Calgary (Canada West second place)
4. Guelph (OUA finalists)
5. Alberta (Canada West third place)
STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS (All times local: Mountain Time)
Round-robin standings (after 2 of 10 games)
GP W L T GF GA PTS
1. UBC 1 1 0 0 2 1 3
2. Calgary 1 1 0 0 3 2 3
3. Alberta 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4. Guelph 1 0 1 0 2 3 0
5. Toronto 1 0 1 0 1 2 0
NOTE: 3 points for a win and 1 point for a tie.
Thursday, Nov. 3
9:30 Round-Robin Game 1: UBC 2 Toronto 1
11:50 Round-Robin Game 2: Calgary 3 Guelph 2
15:30 Round-Robin Game 3: UBC vs. Alberta
17:50 Round-Robin Game 4: Toronto vs. Guelph
Friday, Nov. 4
10:00 Round-Robin Game 5: Calgary vs. UBC
12:20 Round-Robin Game 6: Guelph vs. Alberta
16:00 Round-Robin Game 7: Toronto vs. Calgary
Saturday, Nov. 5
10:00 Round-Robin Game 8: Calgary vs. Alberta
12:20 Round-Robin Game 9: UBC vs. Guelph
16:00 Round-Robin Game 10: Toronto vs. Alberta
17:30 Tie-Breaking Strokes (if necessary)
Sunday, Nov. 6
10:00 Bronze medal
13:00 Championship final