CIS women's field hockey Saturday roundup

Photo credit David Moll, Calgary

Alberta 2, Victoria 1 Final   

EDMONTON - The University of Alberta Pandas field hockey team took a big step towards securing a berth to the CIS championship tournament by picking up a 2-1 win Saturday afternoon over the Victoria Vikes at Foote Field in Edmonton.

Freshman Nicole Laskosky and third-year Jennifer Cousineau scored for Alberta, while fourth-year goalie Tory Spencer made some key saves to earn the win.  The Pandas improve to 3-2-2 on the season, and, for now, own second place in Canada West.

Victoria’s lone tally was scored by Marisa Davidson.  The Vikes slip to a 2-5 record and continue to sit in the Canada West basement. They were without regular goalie Kaitlyn Williams as she departed for Mexico this morning where she will serve as Canada’s goalie in the Pan Am Games.

Alberta’s win, coupled with UBC’s 3-2 win over Calgary on Saturday, puts the Pandas in sole possession of second place, and in charge of their own destiny.  Should the Pandas remain ahead of Calgary, they will earn a berth to the national championship tournament, November 3-6, at the U of C.

Laskosky opened the scoring in the 12th minute when she knocked the ball past Vikes goalie Leah Farnan during a goalmouth scramble.  The rookie forward now has two goals on the season, which ties her for the team lead.

Cousineau doubled Alberta’s advantage 10 minutes later, beating Farnan again from in tight, during a scramble on the Victoria doorstep.

The two-goal output is the Pandas’ best this season, and it served them well as the Vikes scored in the second half to cut their deficit by one, but could not get any closer.

Davidson, a rookie from Kelowna, BC, notched Victoria’s goal, beating Spencer in the 39th minute, for her second of the season.

Victoria pushed hard throughout the remainder of the second half, but could not find the equalizer thanks to Alberta’s staunch defending and the play of Spencer.

Both teams will meet again tomorrow afternoon, 1:00 pm, at Foote Field.  It’s Alberta’s last home game of the season, and fifth-year player Toni Almhjell will be honoured for her time as a Panda.

Source: Alberta Sports Info

UBC 3, Calgary 2 Final 

CALGARY – A sparkling performance by goalkeeper Bea Francisco and a knack for converting their opportunities led the UBC Thunderbirds to a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Dinos Saturday afternoon in Canada West field hockey action.

UBC improves to 5-2 on the season, while Calgary drops to 2-3-2.

Francisco aggressively took on the Calgary offence and made several fantastic saves in the contest, while the Dinos failed to convert on multiple opportunities to tie the game.

“It really was a case of missed opportunities today,” said Dinos head coach Jenn Swagar. “The same thing happened the last time we played them – we get the opportunities, but just don’t have the finish. When two teams are playing end-to-end like that, you need to take advantage of your opportunities.”

Despite drawing six short corner opportunities in the first half alone, the Dinos found themselves trailing 2-0 at the half on a pair of early goals by Robyn Pendleton. Her two tallies came in the third and 15th minutes, both off short corner opportunities, with the second one finding its way through a maze of legs untouched past Calgary ‘keeper Steph Petrowitsch.

Calgary began to press late in the opening half, but Francisco was up to the challenge. A diving blocker stop as she sprung to her right was the highlight and maintained the two-goal UBC lead through the half.

The Dinos continued their pressure early in the second half but their struggles to put the ball in the net continued. A deflection on a centering pass in front of Francisco went just inches wide of the net, and moments later Keara Chicquen took another crossing pass and stared at a gaping cage – but fanned on the opportunity as the ball rolled away harmlessly.

Calgary finally got on the board in the 58th minute with a penalty corner goal of their own. Serena Lockhart was the last Dino to touch the ball in a scramble in front of the UBC goal that made its way past Francisco. UBC would respond quickly, however, with Shanlee Johnston scoring on a nifty shot as she dived to her left with the Thunderbirds rushing up the field in transition.

That insurance marker turned out to be the game-winner. Chicquen did finally convert on one of her opportunities as she tucked a loose ball just inside the post very late in the contest to pull the Dinos within one, but the final horn sounded just seconds after the goal as UBC walked off the field with the victory.

“Bea played unbelievably, and we tried to practice against a similar style of goalie this week,” said Swagar. “I thought we played pretty well against her, but we had several balls go past the end line that should have gone in the net.”

The Dinos and Thunderbirds wrap up their weekend series Sunday with a 1 p.m. start time at Hawkings Field.

Source: Calgary Sports Info