The Varsity Blues women’s field hockey team triumphed 7–1 Saturday over the visiting Western Mustangs.
Both teams came into the game undefeated, but Toronto’s strong passing and communication gave them the edge over Western.
“We were confident, and we thought that we were going to go in and win, and we did,” said Tegan Stairs, who scored two goals for the Blues.
But the final score doesn’t tell the whole story. The Blues got off to a shaky start in the first half.
In the first 35 minutes, Toronto, clearly the superior team, kept the ball deep in the Western end, forcing Mustang turnovers and creating multiple scoring opportunities. But U of T was largely unable to convert, and tallied just one first-half goal, scored by Amanda Woodcroft.
“It’s kind of frustrating,” said Toronto forward Alexandra Evanyshyn, who would eventually notch three goals in the contest. “We had a lot of opportunities in the first half and we didn’t finish.”
The difficult situation was exacerbated for the Blues when a short Western possession near the end of the first half resulted in a Mustang goal, tying the game at the half.
“It was a lapse in the way we started to do things, people started to question where they wanted to be. I think they over-thought what our principles were, and so the confusion set in and [the Mustangs] got the one chance and they scored,” said Blues head coach Mike DeSouza. “For some reason we just started doubting ourselves for that little span and we gave them that opportunity.”
A half time talk put the Blues in a better head space for the remainder of the game.
“We were a little flustered at the beginning Our positions, structures were a little off, but after we regrouped and talked about what we had to do I was pretty confident that we were going to come out with some goals and finish on our opportunities” said Stairs.
At the start of the second half, Western tried to hang on to their momentum, forcing the Blues on the defensive. But sharp passing by Toronto allowed them to push the Mustangs into their own end, and a strong move to the net by Evanyshyn finally resulted in a second Blues goal.
Evanyshyn’s goal seemed to deflate the Western team, but the Blues were again unable to take advantage. Toronto caught some breaks while Western conceded a series of penalties, and the Blues finally capitalized on those opportunities as Kelly Lusk marked a goal 51 minutes into the game. That goal opened the floodgates for the Blues as Stairs scored just a minute later to extend Toronto’s lead.
Stairs’ goal cemented the Blue’s lead and gave momentum to the team, allowing the Blues to dominate the rest of the game. Evanyshyn would soon notch two more goals, and Stairs would add one more of her own for Toronto.
Although happy with the game’s outcome, the Blues know that they need to improve to be successful later in the season.
“I think this team is young right now, we do have experienced players but we’re young in what we’re trying to accomplish,” noted DeSouza, “So what ends up happening is there’s some frustrations when it’s not going their way.”
“The first half wasn’t really indicative of how well we can play, I think the second half was, and I think if we continue to stay climbing that path we’ll be okay.”
Despite having some difficulties to overcome, the Blues are confident in the strength and talent of their team. Just a few hours after defeating Western, the team won a shutout victory against York, and the Blues continue to hold a perfect 4–0 record.
Stairs is looking forward to a successful season. “I think that we’re going to — I hope that we’re going to — have an undefeated season, so I look forward to that and I think we can accomplish it. I’m pretty excited.”