VICTORIA, B.C. – The UBC Thunderbirds men's field hockey team defeated the Victoria Vikes 3-1 on Saturday afternoon in the home opener for the Vancouver Island school.
Typically the UBC side boasts a strong national team presence as the T-Birds share a home pitch with the Candian national team program. Very few national team members travelled across the pond for today's match but the ones that did were key including former Vike
Keegan Pereira, who relocated to Vancouver to train full time with the Canadian senior team. In addition,
Hudson Stewart and
Gordon Johnston bring international experience to the team, while several other T-Birds have spent time with the junior national programs.
For the Vikes, fourth-year David Bell anchored the back line along side rookie keeper Toby Owen. Through the midfield junior national team standouts Tyler Klenk and Brenden Bissett crafted most of the attack, while rookies Prabh Sahota and Arsh Buttar made good appearances in their home debut.
Possession favoured the Thunderbirds in the opening half but the visitors were unable to put one past Owen, who was solid through a series of penalty corners and odd-man rushes. Pereira was the most dangerous threat for the Thunderbirds but was unable to connect with his front line.
In the second half, Stewart drove the ball into the circle on the left side and blasted a ball into the back of the net through traffic to lift the Birds up 1-0. Stewart took some contact on the play and time was stopped for a long period of time, as the Vancouver native was slow to get up and did not return to the pitch.
Minutes later, UVic caught a lucky break as fourth year Derek Wiggins tied the game up. Wiggins was in a one-on-one battle on the left side of the pitch and he curled to his forehand and smashed a bouncing ball through the circle that took a touch off a UBC defender and went into the net. Wiggins' efforts was credited as an own goal, a new rule for this season, but regardless, the game was tied 1-1.
UBC went ahead late in the second half on a penalty corner goal from Johnston. Johnston's drag flick was placed high to Owen's right. Owen did get a stick on it but not enough to keep the ball out of the net. Johnston followed up with a drag flick goal on the next UBC corner to lift the Thunderbirds 3-1 over the Vikes.
The Vikes did have multiple opportunities in the other end including a blast from the top from Riley Tringham that rang wide of the net but they were unable to capitalize. The final 3-1 score moves the Vikes to a 0-2-0 record in the Vancouver men's premier league while the Thunderbirds advance to 2-0-0.
Next Saturday, UBC will host the Lions in a noon game on Wright Field.
