U18 Nationals wraps up in Surrey with exciting championship-Monday action
It was a repeat final from the 2018 U18 Women’s Nationals as the BC Rams faced the Vancouver Island BC Stags for the gold.
The BC Rams went undefeated in their pool chalking up a +30 goal differential and promptly marched past Ontario West in the semis looking like the favourite for a repeat championship. The BC Stags had other ideas. They had defeated Ontario Central in the other semi and were looking to play their best hockey yet.
MONDAY RESULTS
Women’s Medal Round:
Gold Medal Match – BC Stags def BC Rams [1-0]
Bronze Medal Match – Ontario C def Ontario W [2-1]Men’s Results
BC def Alberta[13-0]
BC def Quebec [4-1]Women’s Consolation:
BC Lions def Alberta [5-1]
Ontario E def Quebec [2-1]
Alberta def PEI [5-2]
Stags’ Janet Dawson banged home a loose ball right at the end of the first quarter to give the Stags the lead. The go-ahead marker was Dawson’s team-leading sixth goal of the tournament. From there on out, it was all defense as they locked up their own end and forced the Rams into tough scoring areas.
The Rams kept wave after wave of attack coming but couldn’t crack the Stags’ defense. Stags’ goalkeeper Nicola Leech made some crucial saves in the second half to keep the narrow one-goal margin. The Vancouver Island Stags kept up the stellar defensive play all the way to the final buzzer earning them the sweet taste of a bounce-back gold medal after falling so close last year.
The bronze medal match was an all-Ontario affair pinning Ontario West vs Central. The game-play was quite even with Central having the slight edge. Tournament All-Star Ella Murphy tied the game late for West but only a few minutes later Lexi Hannah scored the game-winning goal for Central.
With the triple round robin format in play, when BC defeated Alberta first thing on Monday morning, the secured the gold medal. The team had five wins to their name but they still wanted to close out the tournament undefeated on a winning note. On the flip side of the coin, Quebec would love to finish off the tournament with a win. As a result, even though the podium outcome was already determined, the final men’s game had a championship ‘flavour’ to it.
BC jumped out to an immediate 2-0 lead, taking the wind out of Quebec’s sails a bit. When Roop Dhillon fired home a penalty corner before half time, it felt all but over. Quebec didn’t go away as they notched a goal early in the third quarter. But that was it for offense as the game finished 3-1 in favour of BC crowning them gold medalists in the U18 men’s division.
The U15 division will take place in Calgary Alberta and kick off on July 24. Make sure to follow along on the Field Hockey Canada event page and social media accounts.
GRPYHON HOCKEY TOURNAMENT 11
Women’s Division All Stars
Miranda Yee [Alberta]
Sophie Bird [Quebec]
Arden Goddard-Despot [BC Lions]
Grace Bauer-Leahy [ONT West]
Ella Murphy [ONT West]
Rachel Buttinger [ONT West]
Dani Husar [ONT Central]
Imogen Govan [ONT Central]
Grace Delmotte [BC Rams]
Libby Hogg [BC Stags]
Alison Drummond [BC Rams]
Men’s Division All Stars
Rajan Singh [Alberta]
Baldeep Sivia [Alberta]
Daniel Goodwin [BC]
Johnny Jacoby [BC]
Jyothswaroop Sidhu [BC]
Nicolas Cain [BC]
Devan Crawford [BC]
Casey Brennan-Raab [Quebec]
Alex Bird [Quebec]
Nityanand Rewankar [Quebec]
Philippe Loignon-Lapointe
