VICTORIA (CIS) - The No. 2-seeded UBC Thunderbirds picked up their second win on day one of the CIS women's field hockey championship with a 3-1 victory over the No. 5 Alberta Pandas, Thursday afternoon.
The Canada West champion T-Birds (2-0) built a 3-0 lead on goals from
Elise Milosevich (7th minute), her second of the tournament,
Whitney Kroll (35th) and
Kristyn Harrington (42nd), before Carly Flemming put the Pandas (0-1) on the board in the 45th minute.
Kroll and Harrington, both from West Vancouver, scored via penalty corners.
UBC was also victorious in the tourney opener, scoring a 3-1 upset of the top-ranked Guelph Gryphons. It marks the first 2-0 start for the T-Birds at the CIS championship since 2006, when they captured their last of 11 McCrae Cups.
"It was our second game of the day so I think we were a little tired compared to Alberta, but we dug deep and came out on top," said Milosevich, a first-team all-Canadian from Duncan, B.C. "I thought we maintained possession a lot better through this game."
Alberta goalkeeper Tory Spencer did her best to weather the T-Birds constant offensive pressure and was named the Pandas' player of the game. The sophomore from Bedford, N.S., made several key stops in the second half as Alberta mounted its unsuccessful rally.
UBC game-MVP honours went to third-year Vancouver native
Sarah MacAulay.
UBC will be back in action on Friday morning to play the defending CIS champion Victoria Vikes (1-0) at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. Alberta will follow with a 12:20 p.m. start against the Toronto Varsity Blues.
GAME NOTES: All five participating teams at the CIS championship face each of their rivals once in round-robin play from Thursday to Saturday, with the two teams with the best records at the end of the preliminary round advancing to Sunday's national final at 1 p.m. Pacific Time.
SCORING SUMMARY
UBC: 2-1: 3
ALB: 0-1: 1
First half
7th, UBC,
Elise Milosevich (2)
35th, UBC,
Whitney Kroll (1)
Second half
42nd, UBC,
Kristyn Harrington (1)
45th, ALB, Carly Flemming (1)
Goaltenders
UBC:
Dina Bulfone (W, 70:00, 1 GA, 2-0)
ALB: Tory Spencer (L, 70:00, 3 GA, 0-1)
Players of the game
UBC:
Sarah MacAulay (Vancouver, B.C.)
ALB: Tory Spencer (Bedford, N.S.)
