Vancouver, BC – For the UBC Thunderbirds women's field hockey team it could all come down to this weekend of play to see who will be crowned Canada West Champions in 2014. The three-time defending CIS Champion UBC Thunderbirds are in Victoria for a double-header against the Vikes this weekend.
The Vikes and T-Birds will go head-to-head for two games, Oct. 11-12, in Victoria with the Canada West title and the CIS national championship top seed on the line. Both teams have already secured spots at this year's championship, hosted in Toronto, Ont. from Oct. 30 - Nov. 2. The Vikes sit in first with a 4-0-2 record, while the T-Birds, with two games in hand, are 2-0-2, still with a pair of games to play against the winless and scoreless Calgary Dinos.
Victoria and UBC played to two 1-1 draws earlier in the season, making this weekend a highly anticipated preview of what may come on the final day at the CIS championship.
The Thunderbirds, who lost nearly an entire starting line up of national team players, will rely heavily on too small but dangerous players. Five-foot-one midfielder Hannah Haughn is a former CIS Rookie of the Year, two-time CIS All-Canadian and championship MVP and is only in her third year of play. Five-foot-two defender Rachel Donohoe was last year's Canada West MVP and a CIS All-Canadian. In addition, midfielder Poonam Sandhu, keeper Lauren Logush, Haughn and Donohoe have all been active member's of Canada's senior national team that has had a busy summer preparing and competing in the Commonwealth Games.
As for the Vikes they are led by third-year forward Amanda Kurianowicz who was named the Canada West 1st Star of the Week for the week ending October 5 for her four-goal performance over Calgary. She leads the conference in goals this season with five, two more than Haughn.
UBC will wrap up Canada West play October 18-19 at home against the University of Calgary.
Results from this weekend's games could determine the outcome of the Canada West standings, regardless of next week's 'Birds and Dinos double header. UBC will play Victoria at 11 a.m. on both Oct. 11 and 12.
~ with files from Ali Lee, University of Victoria
