Thunderbird’s crucial win puts them in pole position heading into Saturday
The mist and wind whipped through Warrior Field as the field hockey action heated up two in Waterloo. UPEI took on Toronto to open the play on Friday evening and Waterloo and UBC closed down the house in prime time. It was another great day of field hockey as the table starts to set heading into the weekend.
U of T finds the net five times and takes down the UPEI Panthers
The afternoon conditions were tough. The mist and wind cut through the air and the cold weather has officially arrived in southern Ontario. The Varsity Blues and UPEI Panthers took no heed as they both came out firing in this one. Toronto opened the scoring early in the game Ava Airnes scored her first of two goals, with Vanessa Marques adding a marker at the end of the first quarter.
The pay leveled out in the middle stretch of the game with both teams trading chances. Circle entries stacked up and the pressure was building. Toronto had a flurry of chances and then in the 41st minute, UPEI countered and Rachel Campbell got a touch on a ball fired into the circle. The goal marks the first time UPEI has scored vs an OUA opponent at the U SPORTS Championships in the last three years of the tournament.
Unfortunately for the Panthers, the celebration was short-lived. The score read 2-1 for 10 minutes, then the dam finally broke. Toronto piled in three more goals before the final buzzer. PEI Goalkeeping duo Alexis Marshall and Bria Mathews kept Toronto at bay for the majority of the game, knocking away chance after chance and facing 11 penalty corners.
Mathews said she’s proud of her team for the fight and for notching a goal. She’s excited about the experience at the national tournament and looking forward to getting back on the field tomorrow.
“Coming here and playing against the best in the country is truly incredible. I was happy that we came out with a goal against [U of T]…we want to keep it up and hopefully we can get one against UBC as well,” Mathews said.
Alison Lee, Head Coach of U of T, said the team is here on a business trip and each day is about getting better. She said today was a stepping stone towards peaking on Sunday.
“It was good for us to get on the scoreboard today. Yesterday was a good draw against UBC, but to get our goal scoring going was really nice. We started a little slow, but ramped it up in the fourth quarter,” Lee said. “We want to start tomorrow’s game how we finished today. The goal is to be in that gold medal game on Sunday and we’ll do everything we can to get there.”
Photos/Yan Huckendubler
UBC comes from behind to defeat the hosts, Waterloo in a tight prime-time affair
Just like last night, a Blackburn goal set the crowd alite early in the game. Last night it was Sydney, tonight it was Sierra that got the Warriors the early lead. This time, against the powerhouse UBC Thunderbirds, no lead was safe. Both teams battled through the mid-section of the game, poking and prodding into other’s zones. UBC ran well with the ball while Waterloo countered with connected passes up the field.
It wasn’t until the second half that UBC broke the seal. Captain Riley Brown got the Birds on the board in the 34th and Sydney Le added a marker just seven minutes later. The two short-succession goals were the ultimate difference as UBC stayed tight on defense and outlasted the pesky Warriors 2-1 in tonight’s game.
The game showed that between Waterloo, UBC and U of T, it really comes down to who plays better on the given night. With the win tonight, UBC is threatening to finish top of the pool and secure a spot in the gold medal match Sunday. Tomorrow’s Waterloo vs Toronto game is shaping up to be a defacto play-in game for that Sunday final.
Le’s 41st minute goal was the decider in this one and she said the team played well from behind early again tonight, and battled to get back the advantage.
“We trust each other, we trust the hockey that we play, [being down] doesn’t change what we do, we play our game and it all works out,” Le said. She added that it’s been nine years since UBC traveled for the U SPORTS championships and the first time in the current model.
“It’s been a great experience so far…it’s been great playing different teams and trying out new turf that challenges our skills. It’s a great competition, it’s been awesome,” she said. “We’re ready for anything, we’re looking forward to playing and hopefully getting into that [gold] medal match.”
Tune into tomorrow’s matches on CBC Gem. Waterloo and Toronto kick off the action at 2pm EST with UBC and UPEI taking centre stage at 430pm EST.
Photos/Yan Huckendubler
