TORONTO (CIS) – The No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds will play in their fourth consecutive McCrae Cup final after defeating the Western Mustangs 3-1 in the final preliminary round match of the FHC-CIS women's field hockey championship, Saturday afternoon at Varsity Centre.
UBC finishes atop the standings with a 3-0-1 record with nine points, and will take on the second-seeded Toronto Varsity Blues (2-1-1) tomorrow in the gold-medal match at 10 a.m. Pacific. The two teams have met four times in the final since 1978, each winning twice.
The defending champion Thunderbirds have claimed a CIS-leading 13 national titles in 17 McCrae Cup final appearances. The host Blues look for their 12
th CIS banner in 17 attempts, and first since claiming the top spot over UBC in 2010. The two teams played to a 1-1 draw in the opening match of the national tournament.
“I think it's good to have a rematch,” said UBC head coach Hash Kanjee. “Now that's four games in our pocket that we can look back on as we get ready. We have been building slowly and I think we're moving into a good spot.”
The fifth-seeded Western Mustangs and No. 3 Guelph Gryphons finished round robin play with identical 2-2-0 records and will play for bronze tomorrow at 7 a.m. Pacific.
The Gryphons claimed the CIS bronze medal last season, while Western looks for their first piece of national hardware in program history. The Mustangs edged the Gryphons 2-1 in preliminary round action and the two teams have gone 2-2 this season.
“It's massive,” commented Western head coach Jeff Pacheco when asked about playing for bronze. “It's not just about these girls it's about the ones to come and the girls from the past. It comes down to the culture we are trying to develop and we've had a lot of good times doing it.”
UBC opened the scoring when second-year forward
Molly Driscoll of Delta, B.C., capitalized on a deflection off a penalty corner in the 10
th minute. The Mustangs evened the score in the final minute of the first half as CIS all-Canadian Katelynn Roganowicz of Burlington, Ont., wired a shot into the top right corner of the net.
Toronto native Katherine Gillis put the Thunderbirds up as she solved Western netminder Bethan Blackburn of Elora, Ont., in the 48
th minute for her third goal of the tournament.
Cassandra Tayler of Vancouver added an insurance marker in the 64
th minute as she received a pass in the middle and reversed the ball into the net.
SCORING SUMMARY
UBC: 1-2: 3
WES: 1-0: 1
First half
UBC
Molly Driscoll (1), 10
th
WES Katelynn Roganowicz (2), 35
th
Second half
UBC Katherine Gillis (3), 48
th
UBC
Cassandra Tayler (2), 64
th
Goaltenders
UBC:
Bea Francisco (W, 70:00, 1 GA, 3-0-1)
WES: Bethan Blackburn (L, 70:00, 3 GA, 2-2-0)
Players of the game
UBC:
Abigail Raye (Kelowna, B.C.)
WES: Kate Feagan (Goderich, Ont.)
STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Official championship website:
http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/fh/index
Round-robin standings (after 10 of 10 games)
1. UBC (3-0-1, 10 pts.)
2. Toronto (2-1-1, 7 pts.)
3. Guelph (2-2-0, 6 pts.)
4. Western (2-2-0, 6 pts.)
5. Victoria (0-4-0, 0 pts.)
NOTE: 3 points for a win and 1 point for a tie.
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