TORONTO (CIS) – The third-seeded Canada West Victoria Vikes opened the 2014 CIS-FHC field hockey championship with a 3-2 victory over the OUA silver medalist Guelph Gryphons on Oct. 30 evening at the University of Toronto's Back Campus Fields.
Third-year forward and CIS All-Canadian
Amanda Kurianowicz (Calgary, Alta.) notched two goals, including the game winner, in the victory. Victoria held a 3-0 lead until the final 12 minutes of the match, but two quick goals from Guelph denied Vikes keeper
Sheriden Goodmanson the shutout.
"It was a pretty good game for all of us until the last little bit, but for the most part it was a good way to kick off the tournament," said Kurianowicz. "We definitely had to take a breath and get our composure back."
It was the ninth time in as many appearances that the Gryphons took on the Vikes. Victoria, who have competed at 33-of-40 national championships, notched their fifth-ever win over Guelph on the national stage.
"It was really slippery out there on the new surface and the girls struggled to keep their footing," said
Lynne Beecroft, Vikes women's field hockey head coach and the 2014 Canada West Coach of the Year. "We have only one fifth year player,
Alexis Veljacic, and I thought she was one of our best decision makers and tackler out there today. Amanda also created a lot offensively for us but we had a spell where we kept hitting it up the middle and that cost us towards the end of the game."
Kurianowicz opened the scoring in the third minute with a great shot from deep in the circle that floated over Gryphons goalkeeper Shinai Sorensen (Victoria).
Guelph midfielder Danica Davies of Port Coquitlam, B.C, had a break in the 20
th minute, but Victoria netminder
Sheriden Goodmanson (Victoria) came out to challenge and make the save.
The Vikes extended their lead in the 33
rd minute when fourth-year defender
Alanna Macdonald of Coquitlam, B.C., got her reverse on a penalty corner delivery by
Kathleen Leahy. The Vikes led 2-0 at half despite weathering a strong Guelph offensive storm.
Kurianowicz scored early in the second, notching what would be the game-winner in the 37
th minute. A scramble in front of the Guelph goalmouth allowed the third-year forward to put in a loose ball low to the non-stick side of Sorensen.
Guelph finally got on the board when 2014 OUA rookie of the year Olivia Lane finished off a nice passing play to beat Goodmanson in the 58
th minute. The ball was well-worked entering the 25-yar-area and a composed cross pass to Lane was the first of two second-half goals for the Gryphons.
Guelph brought the game within one when they were awarded a stroke in the 66
th minute. The opportunity came off a midfield turnover that sparked a dangerous Gryphons counter-attack. Third-year forward Daniela Jelec of Mississauga, Ont., made no mistake, burying the ball into the bottom left corner of the net from the spot.
Despite two late goals, the Gryphons were unable complete the comeback.
"We didn't adjust quick enough as a unit today," added Beecroft. "We scored early in both halves and had some nice small ball possession but just didn't play enough like that. Guelph had a good game plan and we didn't adjust well but a win is a win and we will move on for tomorrow now that the jitters are out."
Next up for the Gryphons (0-1) is a tilt with a Toronto Varsity Blues (0-0) in a repeat of last Sunday's OUA final, Friday at 4:30 p.m. The Vikes (1-0) take on the top-seeded and defending champion UBC Thunderbirds (0-0) in an all-Canada West battle at 6:30 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on CIS-SIC.tv
Official championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/fh/indexSCORING SUMMARYVIC: 2-1: 3
GUE: 0-2: 2
First halfVIC
Amanda Kurianowicz (1), 3rd minute
VIC
Alanna Macdonald (1), 33rd minute
Second halfVIC
Amanda Kurianowicz (2), 37th minute
GUE Olivia Lane (1), 58th minute
GUE Daniela Jelec (1), 66
th minute
GoaltendersVIC:
Sheriden Goodmanson (W, 70:00, 2 GA, 1-0)
GUE: Shinai Sorensen (L, 70:00, 3 GA, 0-1)
Players of the gameVIC: Poonam Sandhu (Vancouver, B.C.)
GUE: Ally Chute (Greenfield Park, Que.)
STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS Round-robin standings GP W L T GF GA PTS1. Victoria 1 1 0 0 3 2 3
2. UBC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2. Toronto 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4. Guelph 1 0 1 0 2 3 0
NOTE: 3 points for a win and 1 point for a tie. Thursday, Oct. 30
16:30 Game 1: Victoria 3, Guelph 2
18:30 Game 2: UBC vs. Toronto (CIS-SIC.tv)
Friday, Oct. 31
16:30 Game 3: Toronto vs. Guelph (CIS-SIC.tv)
18:30 Game 4: UBC vs. Victoria (CIS-SIC.tv)
Saturday, Nov. 1
13:00 Game 5: Toronto vs Victoria (CIS-SIC.tv)
15:00 Game 6: UBC vs. Guelph (CIS-SIC.tv)
Sunday, Nov. 2
13:00 Bronze medal (CIS-SIC.tv)
15:00 Championship final (CIS-SIC.tv)
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, over 11,500 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 56 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit
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For more information:
Jill Clark
Sports Information Coordinator
University of Toronto
Off: 416-978-4263
Cell: 416-938-1620
jill.clark@utoronto.ca Michel Bélanger
Manager, Communications & Media Relations
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Off: 613-562-5670 ext. 25
Cell: 613-447-6334
belanger@universitysport.ca
