The reigning national champion University of British Columbia Thunderbirds have been established tournament favourites for the 2012 Field Hockey Canada – CIS women’s field hockey championship.
The seeding and schedule were announced Sunday for the five-team competition hosted by the University of Toronto. The round-robin portion of the tourney runs from Thursday to Saturday at Varsity Centre, with the top two teams at the end of pool play advancing to next Sunday’s gold-medal final at 1 p.m. All 12 matches from the competition will be webcast live on CIS-SIC.tv.
Joining the T-Birds in the quest for the McCrae Cup are the second-seeded and host Toronto Varsity Blues, No. 3 Guelph Gryphons, No. 4 Victoria Vikes and No. 5 Western Mustangs.
The championship kicks off with a bang Thursday at 9:30 a.m. when UBC opens its title defence against Toronto. Opening day will also see Guelph battle Victoria at 11:50 a.m., Toronto take on Western at 3:30 p.m., and UBC face Victoria at 5:50 p.m.
A year ago, the Thunderbirds beat Calgary 3-1 in the gold-medal final to claim their record 13th McCrae Cup, two more than Toronto and Victoria.
Top-ranked UBC went a perfect 8-0 this season in the three-team Canada West conference, outscoring Victoria by a total of 15-3 in four heads-to-head contests and Calgary by a 19-2 margin.
Toronto is also undefeated going into the CIS tournament. The Blues kept a 12-0 mark in league play before adding two wins in the playoffs, including a 5-2 domination of Guelph in the OUA final.
Victoria returns to the CIS championship this year after missing the event for only the second time in 29 years in 2011. Guelph and Western are both looking for the first McCrae Cup in school history.
Official championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/fh/index
NOTES: The CIS individual award winners and the all-Canadian teams will be announced prior to the tournament, on Wednesday evening… A complete championship preview will be available on Tuesday.
SEEDING
1. UBC Thunderbirds (Canada West champions: 8-0-0 regular season / no playoffs in CW)
2. Toronto Varsity Blues (OUA champions: 12-0-0 regular season / 2-0 playoffs)
3. Guelph Gryphons (OUA finalists: 8-3-1 regular season / 1-1 playoffs)
4. Victoria Vikes (Canada West second place: 3-4-1 regular season / no playoffs in CW)
5. Western Mustangs (OUA bronze medallists: 7-4-1 regular season / 2-1 playoffs)
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Wednesday, Oct. 31
18:30 All-Canadian Awards Banquet (Marriott Bloor Yorkville Hotel)
Thursday, Nov. 1
9:30 Game 1: UBC vs. Toronto
11:50 Game 2: Guelph vs. Victoria
15:30 Game 3: Toronto vs. Western
17:50 Game 4: UBC vs. Victoria
Friday, Nov. 2
10:00 Game 5: Guelph vs. Toronto
12:20 Game 6: Victoria vs. Western
16:00 Game 7: UBC vs. Guelph
Saturday, Nov. 3
10:00 Game 8: Guelph vs. Western
12:20 Game 9: Toronto vs. Victoria
16:00 Game 10: UBC vs. Western
17:30 Tie-Breaking Strokes (if necessary)
Sunday, Nov. 4
10:00 Bronze medal
13:00 Championship final
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, 11,000 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 54 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CIS_SIC
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cissports
