CIS Game Recaps

Game 1: Blues tie UBC Thunderbirds 1-1
Game 2: Blues win vs Western Mustangs 6-0
Game 3: Guelph Gryphons win vs Blues 3-2
Game 4: Blues win vs Victoria Vikes 1-0
CIS Final: UBC Thunderbirds win vs Blues 3-0

The Varsity Blues women’s field hockey team fell at the final hurdle, ending an otherwise successful season with a heart-breaking defeat in the CIS championship final on home turf.

“I’m very proud of this team. Every now and then you get a really special team and this is a special team. We were blessed with some really good athletes,” said head coach John DeSouza following the Blues’ CIS championship final-loss to the first-ranked UBC Thunderbirds at Varsity Stadium on Sunday.

BERNARDA GOSPIC/THE VARSITY

The team entered the season hoping to continue their recent record of stunning success — Toronto took CIS gold in 2010, and won the OUA championship last season. Despite a grueling training schedule and a long list of matches, the Blues were driven by the hope of playing the CIS final in front of a home crowd on the final day of the CIS Championship.

The Blues set a blistering pace through 10 regular-season shut-out victories, and ended the year as OUA leaders with a pristine 12–0 record.

This is the third consecutive season that Toronto has finished at the top of the provincial standings, and these strong regular-season performances have seen the team advance to OUA final every season since 2008.

The Blues’ women knew they had reason to be confident entering the battle for the OUA banner, coming in as they did undefeated with a league-leading 63 goals scored to only seven allowed against their playoff opponents.

The Blues handily defeated the Waterloo Warriors in a 4–0 shutout in the OUA semifinals to set up a final rematch with 2011 opponents, the Guelph Gryphons.

The game proved an apt reflection of the Blues’ season; Toronto dominated from the start with an early goal by Lauren Mansfield that soared into the net off a shot from 15 feet out. Rain began to pour down at the start of the second half, and OUA All-Star Amanda Woodcroft opened the scoring flood-gates from a short corner. Woodcroft’s goal was matched by efforts from Rachel Fackoury, Tegan Stairs, and Ally Evanyshyn to put the seal on a 5–2 victory.

The thrill of winning consecutive OUA championships against an opponent as strong as the Gryphons faded as the women returned to Toronto to compete for national supremacy as the CIS’ second ranked team.

The Blues and Canada-West champions UBC met in the first round-robin game of the CIS playoffs, a match-up replicated in the final. The first game ended in a 1–1 draw, and Toronto then suffered their first loss of the season to the Guelph Gryphons to end the round-r0bin with a 2–1–1 record and seven points.

“We’ve never seen our opponents before right now, and we haven’t come up against such strong teams until now,” noted Blues defender Heather Haughn. “The only way to prepare is really in practice where we can simulate it.”

The round-robin loss and draw saw the Blues lose control of their own fate, and they were forced to anxiously monitor the results coming in as the championship’s preliminary round wound down to learn if they would indeed see themselves on the field in the final.

“It’s been an emotional rollercoaster for us as we struggled with the fact that we could miss the finals, and now there’s a chance that we could make the finals,” said DeSouza after the Blues round-robin win over the Victoria Vikes.

The stars aligned for the Blues, and the opportunity to battle for the McCrae Cup on home turf appeared destined.

Sunday’s final saw a matchup between two pairs of sisters. Blues players Tegan and Emma Stairs helped lift Toronto all season with their stellar performances and flawless interplay, while U of T’s Heather Haughn and Hannah Haughn of UBC faced off against one another.

“The nice thing is that I know what she’s going to do,” said Heather Haughn, who marked her sister through the game “I’ve played against her so many times and I’ve seen her play a million times. But it’s hard psychologically sometimes too.”

Hannah Haughn, who was crowned CIS Championship MVP, concurred. “It’s always hard to play, not only your sister, but your best friend,” she admitted. “But, when we come out on the field we’re competitors and we want to win, so we’re going to fight till the end. I think she would have been proud of me and I would have been proud of her either way.”

A season that saw the team soar through the regular season undefeated, capture the OUA gold medal, and compete in the CIS final can only be seen as a success “We have so much to take from it all,” said Heather Haughn.

Tegan Stairs, whose goal against the Vikes helped send the Blues to the final, concurred. “I’m proud that we came this far. We put up a fight and we only lost two games this season, so I’m quite happy.”

It’s impossible to predict if this season’s will translate into a similarly-triumphant 2013, and the team will undergo the usual changes and stresses of the off-season.

“Next year the team’s not going to be the same obviously because you always lose players to graduation and the one’s I’m losing will be hard to replace,” acknowledged DeSouza. “But we’ll rebuildand we’ll come back.

“This was a great season, and one that I’ll remember for a long time.”

-Zoe Bedard

Game Recap

CIS Final: Blues vs. thunderbirds

The Varsity Blues women’s field hockey team earned CIS silver, falling 3–0 to the top ranked University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in the final at Varsity Stadium.

The game began with the teams trading control of the ball, with neither truly grabbing control. But a U of T foul inside the area in the fifth minute resulted in a penalty corner for UBC, and the Thunderbirds were able to capitalize on the opportunity, with Sara McManus scoring the first goal of the game.

“I think our girls played extremely well today. They fought hard. We gave up a goal really early. They had the 1–0 lead and then we really just started to play; it was almost a good thing,” noted Blues head coach John DeSouza.

The second half started much like the first, with quick turnovers on both sides and strong defense resulting in few scoring opportunities. UBC forced a turnover and took the ball deep into the Blues end, causing a foul from goalie Kathryn Williams. The resulting penalty stroke, taken by McManus, gave the Thunderbirds their second goal of the game.

“We missed a bunch of penalty corners that could have tied the game and then they got their chance to go up 2–0 and I knew that that was going to be hard to fight back from,” said DeSouza.

Toronto’s Tegan Stairs and Kaelan Watson attempted to spark the team offensively, but the Blues appeared tired and unsure of themselves, and were unable to keep up with UBC.

A penalty against Toronto late in the half gave the Thunderbirds another opportunity to score and McManus capitalized, completing her hat trick. “[The hat trick] feels good, but it’s a win, that’s all that really matters is that we won, that someone puts the ball in the net,” commented UBC’s Sarah McManus. “It was a nice way to finish it off, but it’s a team effort, so I couldn’t have had those chances without the team making them.”

Despite the three-goal deficit and the lack of time remaining on the clock, the Blues continued to play hard and get the ball into the Thunderbird’s end. However, UBC kept shot opportunities to a minimum, and ended the Blues’ hopes for a win.

“There were a couple of moments Toronto was looking very strong. It could’ve easily been 1–1 at one point, but we held tight, and Sara McManus scored a hat trick which is absolutely brilliant,” said UBC head coach Hash Kanjee.

— Susan Gordon