The University of British Columbia Athletics

VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds field hockey team added to their record haul with a 13th McCrae Cup in 2011. In front of a hostile crowd, UBC defeated the hometown Calgary Dinos by a score of 3-1.
 
The same two teams will meet again this weekend as UBC begins Canada West play.
 
Calgary opened the season last weekend with two losses (3-1 and 1-0) at Victoria.
 
Because of renovations to Wright Field, the UBC-Calgary games will be contested at Tamanawis Park in Surrey.  The game on Saturday will begin at 12:30 p.m. Pacific.  The Sunday match will start at 10:30 a.m. Pacific.
 
2012 FIELD HOCKEY SCHEDULE

A large part of UBC's championship roster is returning for another run at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) title.
 
"We have a deep team this year; everyone is expected to contribute to the team's success," said UBC head coach Hash Kanjee.
 
Up front, First Team All-Canadian forward Poonam Sandhu and Shanlee Johnston are among the returnees.
 
UBC loses forward Robyn Pendleton, the Canada West and CIS Player of the Year as well as the CW's BLG Awards nominee, but will see the return of Kate Gillis, a member of Canada's national team. Gillis is also the daughter of Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis.
 
National team veterans Abigail Raye and Natalie Sourisseau anchor the midfield, which will also see the addition of talented newcomer Hannah Haughn.
 
First Team All-Canadian Miranda Mann, Sara McManus and Caitlin Evans will help lead a UBC defence that gave up a league-low 10 goals in 12 games last season.
 
Another new addition to this year's team is assistant coach Stephanie Jameson, who retired earlier this year from the Canadian senior national team as the most-capped player in this country's history.
 
Eight players will miss the games this weekend as they are currently representing Canada at the Pan American Junior Championship in Mexico.  Canada has a berth in the final and has clinched a spot at next year's Junior World Cup.
 
Those who are not playing for Canada right now were part of UBC's tour of New Zealand last month, which included seven matches against local clubs and universities.
 
The T-Birds players were also a part of six training sessions, some of which will be conducted by elite New Zealand coaches.
 
"The New Zealand trip got us all back into the mindset of competition," said Kanjee. "We got the opportunity to put all of our skills to use playing talented teams in New Zealand.  It should help us this season."
 
Just three teams remain in the Canada West after the withdrawal of Alberta in the off-season.
 
UBC will play Calgary and Victoria four times each – twice at home and twice on the road – with the highest-finishing team crowned conference champions.  The Thunderbirds have won the last nine Canada West titles.
 
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