TORONTO (CIS) – The No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds scored with no time left on the game clock to tie the host and No. 2 Toronto Varsity Blues 1-1 in Game 1 of the FHC – CIS women's field hockey championship on Thursday morning at Varsity Centre.
U of T rookie forward Emma Stairs of Kitchener, Ont., opened the scoring in the 56th minute when she took a pass from her sister and CIS all-Canadian Tegan Stairs and rifled a shot past UBC goalie
Bea Francisco of Richmond, B.C.
The Thunderbirds had numerous penalty corners in the last 14 minutes of the match, and finally capitalized on the last play of the game when fourth-year defender
Miranda Mann of Duncan, B.C., sent a booming shot past U of T netminder Katherine Williams of Burlington, Ont.
“One point is better than none,” said UBC head coach Hash Kanjee. “I'm really glad we capitalized after having so many chances. I thought Toronto came alive in the second half so we'll have to make sure we're ready for that if we meet them again.”
The Thunderbirds came out and dominated the first 20 minutes of action, with the majority of the play stuck in U of T's end.
The first scoring chance of the game came when 2012 CIS all-Canadian
Natalie Sourisseau of Kelowna, B.C., came streaking into the circle and drew a penalty corner opportunity in the 20th minute. Toronto denied two short corner opportunities and used that momentum to pick up their play.
Despite a few opportunities for both teams, the game remained scoreless at the half.
“I thought we created some really good chances in the first half but we didn't capitalize on them and that cost us,” added Kanjee.
U of T leading scorer Ally Evanyshyn had a great chance to open the scoring in the 42
nd minute, when she found herself all alone in the circle, but was denied by Francisco. Two minutes later, Poonan Sandhu of Vancouver had a great opportunity for the T-Birds but sent a shot just wide of the net and Blues netminder Katherine Williams (Burlington, Ont.).
Next up for Toronto is a match versus the fifth seed Western Mustangs at 12:30 p.m.. UBC is set for a tilt with the fourth-seeded Victoria Vikes at 2:50 p.m.
SCORING SUMMARY
UBC 0-1: 1
TOR: 0-1: 1
First half
No scoring.
Second half
TOR Emma Stairs (1), 56th
UBC
Miranda Mann (1), 70th
Goaltenders
UBC:
Bea Francisco (T, 70:00, 1 GA, 0-0-1)
TOR: Katherine Williams (T, 70:00, 1 GA, 0-0-1)
Players of the game
TOR: Amanda Woodcroft (Waterloo, Ont.)
UBC:
Sara McManus (Delta, B.C.)
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