The Vikes women’s field hockey team earned two ties against the seven-time defending U SPORTS national champions, the UBC Thunderbirds over the Sept. 15-16 weekend in Vancouver. Second-year Vikes defender Anna Mollenhauer was arguably the most effective player on the field of both teams. Despite not registering on any statistic sheets, the Victoria native played big parts of the Vikes offence and defence. Mollenhauer, also a part of the team’s leadership group, was the only Vikes field player to play all 70 minutes of both games. On offence, Mollenhauer was main shooter at the top of the penalty corner battery, launched several distance aerials to spring forward attacks, including a few breakaways, and single-handedly crafted her way through sometimes four UBC players. Defensively Mollenhauer organized the back field, provided some key stops on penalty corners and made some big tackles to spring counter-attacks. The Vikes have not beat UBC since 2015 but a pair of ties early in the season show great promise for the young Vikes squad.
