U16 National Championship – Day 1 Update

Day one of the U16 Field Hockey Canada National Championships didn’t fail to provide exciting action throughout in Calgary, Alberta. Wednesday was filled with 3 boys and 5 girls matches total.

The action was kicked off with one of our U16 Boys featured match of the day having Alberta play Ontario White. Ontario White and Alberta came out flying with lots of energy in the opening match of the tournament. With goals back and forth, the half time score was 3-3, with both sides creating plenty of offensive chances. A late goal in the 59^th minute gave Ontario White 5-4 lead, which stood until the final whistle.

The second match pitted Ontario Red against Quebec men. This was one of the highlight matches of the day, with a strong defensive performance by both teams. Chances at both ends created a back and forth match which highlighted both team’s skill. A 39^th minute goal by Isaac Farion stood as the only goal of the match, with Quebec taking the match 1-0

Game 3 featured BC Blue and Alberta women. With a strong hometown crowd backing Alberta, the girls came out flying, with lots of energy and intensity. The game finished 2-0 in favor of BC Blue as Ashlyn Toljander scored both for BC Blue.

In the fourth game of the day, Ontario Red took on BC Yellow. Ontario Red came out of the gates flying, showing their class. A strong pushback from BC Yellow provided a 2-0 half time score line in favor on Ontario Red. In the second half Ontario came out strong and proved to be too much for BC Yellow, with a final score reading 5-0.

Game five had Quebec take on BC White in the women’s division. A strong defensive performance was put in by both teams, but a 48^th minute goal by Sarah Lilley of BC White resulted in a winner performance for BC White.

The day rolled on with game six which had BC taking on Ontario White in the men’s competition. This match had both teams creating chances, with offensive action in both ends. A 50^th minute goal by Harvir Malhi gave BC a 2-0 victory.

Game 7 had the hometown girls from Alberta taking on Ontario White. With Alberta playing strong in defense, Ontario struggled to create many circle penetrations. A 23^rd minute goal by Sophie Schmidt, as well as a 46^th minute goal by Abby Jenssen resulted in a 2-0 win for the British Columbians.

The final match of the day was definitely a one of the highlights of the day. Quebec was taking on BC Yellow on the women’s side. After 60 minutes, BC took the victory 1-0 with a 39^th minute goal from Avery Nystedt. Quebec came up just short on the scoreboard but put in a spectacular performance defensively, with goalkeeper Annabelle Murray making countless saves to keep Quebec in it.

Tomorrow schedule features six matches throughout the day:

8:30am Boys – BC vs Quebec

10:05am Girls A – BC White vs Ontario Red

11:40 Girls B – BC White vs Alberta

1:15pm Boys – Alberta vs Ontario Red

2:50pm Boys – Quebec vs Ontario White

4:25pm Girls A – BC Yellow vs BC White

6:00pm Girls A – Ontario Red vs Quebec

7:30pm Boys – Alberta vs BC.