CALGARY (CIS) – The University of Toronto Varsity Blues clinched their spot in the bronze medal game as they defeated The University of Alberta Pandas 2-0 on Saturday evening in the final game of the preliminary round at the FHC-CIS women’s field hockey championship at Hawkings Field.

Coming into the match, Alberta needed to win by two goals or more to advance into the third-place match, or else Toronto would earn that spot.

With the result, the Blues, who were the defending champions coming into the tournament, end the preliminary round in third place with a 2-2 record, while the Pandas will return home with a disappointing 0-4 mark.

Toronto face Guelph (1-3) for CIS bronze Sunday at 10 a.m. MT. The McCrae Cup final between UBC (4-0) and Calgary (3-1) will follow at 1 p.m.

The Blues opened the scoring in the 23rd minute as Amanda Woodcroft tallied what went on to be the game-winning goal. Despite pressure by the Pandas as they attempted to get back into the game, Toronto notched an insurance marker in the 61st minute from Lauren Mansfield.

“We played really well tonight,” said Toronto head coach John DeSouza. “It is always hard to have to play into the bronze medal game and our girls worked hard out there and I’m proud of them they fought through everything.”

Toronto showed why they were the top-ranked team heading into the tournament as they controlled the majority of the play through the first half.

A resilient Alberta squad battled hard though in the second period, but was unable to get anything past goaltender Kathryn Williams, who earned her first shutout of the competition.

Sunday’s third-place duel between the Blues and Guelph will be a rematch of last week’s OUA final, won 6-0 by Toronto. The two teams also met in round-robin action on Thursday, with the Blues prevailing 2-1.

“I think we’ve been pretty successful and I like our chances, but were taking on a team that has played some really hard games in this tournament so it will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow,” said De Souza.

SCORING SUMMARY

TOR 1-1:2
ALB 0-0:0

First half
TOR: Amanda Woodcroft (1), 23rd

Second half
TOR: Lauren Mansfield (2), 61st

Goaltenders
TOR: Kathryn Williams (W, 70:00, 0 GA, 2-2)
ALB: Tory Spencer (L, 70:00, 2 GA, 0-4)

Players of the game
TOR: Amanda Rudcroft
ALB: Jacqueline Trautman

PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDING

1. Toronto (OUA champions)
2. UBC (Canada West champions)
3. Calgary (Canada West second place)
4. Guelph (OUA finalists)
5. Alberta (Canada West third place)

STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS (All times local: Mountain Time)

Round-robin standings (FINAL)

GP W L T GF GA PTS
1. UBC 4 4 0 0 10 3 12
2. Calgary 4 3 1 0 11 6 9
3. Toronto 4 2 2 0 5 6 6
4. Guelph 4 1 3 0 6 9 3
5. Alberta 4 0 4 0 2 10 0

NOTE: 3 points for a win and 1 point for a tie.

Thursday, Nov. 3
9:30 Round-Robin Game 1: UBC 2 Toronto 1
11:50 Round-Robin Game 2: Calgary 3 Guelph 2
15:30 Round-Robin Game 3: UBC 2 Alberta 0
17:50 Round-Robin Game 4: Toronto 2 Guelph 1

Friday, Nov. 4
12:00 Round-Robin Game 5: UBC 4 Calgary 2
14:20 Round-Robin Game 6: Guelph 3 Alberta 2
18:00 Round-Robin Game 7: Calgary 3 Toronto 0

Saturday, Nov. 5
10:00 Round-Robin Game 8: Calgary 3 Alberta 0
12:20 Round-Robin Game 9: UBC 2 Guelph 0
16:00 Round-Robin Game 10: Toronto 2 Alberta 0

Sunday, Nov. 6
10:00 Bronze medal: Guelph vs. Toronto
13:00 Championship final: UBC vs. Calgary

-CIS-