Individual honours are always nice to receive, but team success always tastes sweeter in the long run. This year a group of gritty women were able to bear down and get the job done together, bringing home medals from the national championships.

The Varsity Blues women’s field hockey team earned bronze medals at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) championships on November 6, just days after finishing first at the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) finals.

Head coach Beth Ali is proud of what her squad has been able to accomplish. She always sets high standards for the team and is rarely disappointed by the results.

“Given the youth of our team, it was difficult to predict what would happen at the national championships,” says Ali. “We have a strong tradition of excellence within our field hockey program here at U of T and the team is committed to upholding that standard, so we set the goal of winning a CIS medal, which we achieved.”

The Blues defeated their OUA archrival, the Guelph Gryphons, in the bronze-medal game at Wright Field in Vancouver to secure third place in the tournament. Heather Clark of Oakville was the only one able to find the back of the net in the contest, lifting U of T to a nail-biting 1-0 victory.

“We had a balanced lineup at nationals, but we definitely looked to our defence to set the tone for us,” says the coach. “Deep defenders and all-Canadians Malinda Hapuarachchi and Samantha Taylor-along with goaltender Sarah Goertzen-were outstanding throughout.”

Ali also praised the play of the squad’s low-scoring but skilled midfielders and forwards: “In the midfield, Shannon Treacy, Cailie O’Hara, and Amelija Zoehner possessed the ball well and played a vital role in distribution. Up front, Amanda Treacy, Rianna Sterk, and Heather Clark kept the opposition defence under constant pressure and generated good scoring chances.”

The Blues finished the round-robin portion of the CIS finals with a 1-2 record, while Guelph went 0-3, meaning the two teams finished third and fourth in the standings, respectively. They played for bronze, and the UBC Thunderbirds and Alberta Pandas played for gold after finishing in the top two spots.

The Pandas went on to win their first CIS field hockey crown ever, defeating the Thunderbirds 2-1 after penalty strokes.

U of T went through Queen’s and Guelph in the OUA championships to take home gold and qualify for the national finals. The Blues squeaked out a 1-0 win over the Golden Gaels in the semifinals before beating the Gryphons 1-0 in the provincial championship match.

“The team had a great week of training prior to the OUA tournament and they peaked at the right time,” explained Ali. “The leadership shown by Goertzen in the semifinal was outstanding. It was clear she was ready to do her job in the net.

“The team played an outstanding game in the final, given we had lost both regular season games to Guelph. The position of underdog is not one we normally find ourselves in, but we definitely used it to our advantage, and with the ‘we have nothing to lose’ attitude we scored three goals and won the provincial banner 3-1.”

Look for even greater things from the team next year, as most of the team will return for another shot at CIS gold.