VICTORIA - The stale mate for the Canada West title in women's field hockey continues as the University of Victoria Vikes tied the UBC Thunderbirds 1-1 on Oct. 19 at Wright Field in Vancouver, B.C. Both teams have already qualified for the Victoria-hosted CIS Championship and remain on par with a 4-0-2 record. Only two games against each other stand in the way between a first and fourth-place seeding at the four-team national championship.

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The Vikes capitalized early as fourth-year striker Stef Hatch tallied in the ninth minute, while the Thunderbirds rallied back to tie the game in the 47th minute on a goal from Natalie Sourisseau.

The final result was indicative of the even play between the two perennial field hockey power houses. The Vikes started with the offensive edge, maintaining the majority of possession in the first frame while the Thunderbirds bounced back to control the game throughout the majority of the second half.

The Vikes got the early go-ahead off a long corner. Midfielder Kyla Kirby took the ball off the line and ran it along the base line to set up Hatch near the stroke mark. Hatch took one touch to control the ball and then blasted it past Francisco for the 1-0 lead.

"Stef Hatch was great up front today for us and Andrea Jones had a great game today for us as sweeper," said Krista Thompson, assistant coach of the Vikes. "Andrea did a great job getting and giving the ball, transfering and intercepting. She really played on both sides of the ball well today."

The second half was a different story as the Thunderbirds poured on the pressure earning the only two penalty corners of the match within the final frame. The home team capitalized in the 47th minute off one of those corners when Miranda Mann's initial straight shot was blocked by Vikes defender Kathleen Leahy. The rebound popped out to Sourisseau who buried her shot to tie the game at one. 

"We intercepted a lot of their back balls and had good chances in the circle but just didn't have the composure to finish today," added Thompson. "We did a good job with possession in the first half and struggled with their pressure in the second. Tomorrow we will have to be a bit more composed on both sides of the ball."

The Thunderbirds had a good showing from central defender Shanlee Johnson, fresh off a bronze-medal win with team Canada at the 2013 Pan American Cup. In addition, central midfielder Caitlin Evans was an important constant for the Thunderbirds, while Sourisseau was the biggest threat down the outside channels of the pitch.

For the Vikes, Leahy had the dutiful task of marking Sourisseau, containing her and forcing her to distribute, while rookie Emily Bennett and Hatch were key players up front for the Vikes.

The 1-1 draw means that the Vikes and T-Birds remained tied in the Canada West standings with 4-0-2 records. Up next the Birds will complete their weekend hosting duties against the Vikes tomorrow, Oct. 20, at 1 p.m. Next weekend the Vikes will host the Birds for a single-header on Oct. 26 at 12:30 p.m. Following the match the Canada West banner, major awards and all-stars will be awarded at the field.

The winner of the best-of-two remaining games will take the top seed at the CIS championship, hosted in Victoria Oct. 31-Nov. 3.

SCORING SUMMARY
UVIC: 1 - 0 : 1
UBC: 0 - 1 : 1

GOAL SCORERS
UVIC: Stef Hatch (9')
UBC: Nat Sourisseau (47')

GOALKEEPERS
UVIC: Sheriden Goodmanson, 70 MP, 1 GA
UBC: Bea Francisco, 70 MP, 1 GA