VICTORIA - The University of Victoria Vikes women's field hockey team will travel to Toronto for the 2012 Field Hockey Canada - CIS women's field hockey championship, Nov. 1-4. The Vikes women will be looking to return home with the women's field hockey program's 12th championship banner.
FULL SCHEDULE / VIKES MEDIA GUIDE / CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE
This is the Vikes' 29th appearance at the national championships, with 26 of those being led by current head coach Lynne Beecroft. The Vikes currently have 11 national titles to their name, the most of any sport at UVic. The most recent title came on home soil in 2008, in Beecroft's 25th year of coaching.
This year, the Vikes will be led by 2012 Canada West All-Stars Kyla Kirby (Victoria, BC), Carly Krestanovich (Surrey, BC) and Annie Walters-Shumka (Victoria, BC). Co-captains Kirby and Krestanovich have been anchors on the back line, while rookie and Claremont grad Walters-Shumka has filled in the central midfield spot.
The Vikes women have 12 players in either their first or second year of play and went 3-4-1 in regular season play. Rookie keeper Sheriden Goodmanson (Victoria, BC) has played every game between the pipes for the Vikes, earning a 2.14 goals against average. First-year Vike Amanda Kurianowicz (Calgary, AB) currently leads the team in scoring with three goals.
The national championship, hosted at the University of Toronto, will begin with round-robin play from Thursday to Saturday at Varsity Centre. The top two teams following pool play will advance to gold-medal final on Nov. 4 at 1 p.m. All 12 matches from the competition will be webcast live on http://CIS-SIC.tv.
Joining the Vikes will be tournament favourites, the UBC Thunderbirds, who went 8-0 in the Canada West, along with host the Varsity Blues, the No. 3 Guelph Gryphons and the No. 5 Western Mustangs.
SEEDING
1. UBC Thunderbirds (Canada West champions: 8-0-0 regular season / no playoffs in CW)
2. Toronto Varsity Blues (OUA champions: 12-0-0 regular season / 2-0 playoffs)
3. Guelph Gryphons (OUA finalists: 8-3-1 regular season / 1-1 playoffs)
4. Victoria Vikes (Canada West second place: 3-4-1 regular season / no playoffs in CW)
5. Western Mustangs (OUA bronze medallists: 7-4-1 regular season / 2-1 playoffs)
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE:
Wednesday, Oct. 31
18:30 All-Canadian Awards Banquet (Marriott Bloor Yorkville Hotel)
Thursday, Nov. 1
9:30 Game 1: UBC vs. Toronto
11:50 Game 2: Guelph vs. Victoria
15:30 Game 3: Toronto vs. Western
17:50 Game 4: UBC vs. Victoria
Friday, Nov. 2
10:00 Game 5: Guelph vs. Toronto
12:20 Game 6: Victoria vs. Western
16:00 Game 7: UBC vs. Guelph
Saturday, Nov. 3
10:00 Game 8: Guelph vs. Western
12:20 Game 9: Toronto vs. Victoria
16:00 Game 10: UBC vs. Western
17:30 Tie-Breaking Strokes (if necessary)
Sunday, Nov. 4
10:00 Bronze medal
13:00 Championship final
