VICTORIA, B.C. - The University of Victoria Vikes women's soccer team enter the Canada West Select Six in Saskatoon, Sask. after a thrilling quarter-final win over the Fraser Valley Cascades, Oct. 31, in Abbotsford, B.C. Following 120 minutes of scoreless play the two teams went straight to kicks, where the Vikes did not disappoint. Five Vikes buried their shots from the spot, while fourth-year keeper Meaghan Storie made a pivotal save on the Cascades' second shooter to seal the victory, eventually finishing 5-3.
 
The Vikes match up with the Calgary Dinos in the opening round of the Select Six and the teams tied 0-0 in regular season play, Oct. 18. The winner advances to the semifinals on Nov. 7, with the two teams who advance to the Nov. 8 final earning CIS national tournament berths in Vancouver, B.C. from Nov. 12-15.
 
After a 7-3-4 regular season the Vikes are undoubtedly going to rely on their dynamic attacking duo of fifth year Emma Greig and first year Kiara Kilbey to drive the offence. In her debut season as a Vike, KIlbey lead the Vikes in goals with six. Greig led the Vikes in points with three goals and five assists alongside third-year Vike Stephanie Badilla-Gutierrez, who tallied four goals and four assists. Badilla-Gutierrez blasted home the winning penalty for the Vikes against Fraser Valley Cascades in their Canada West Quarter-Final victory.
 
Defensive duties held by Lindsay Machin, Samantha Lee, and Elise Butler will be critical alongside Storie's consistent performance between the pipes. The Vikes defence has allowed a collective 11 goals this season – second best in the Canada West.
 
The Vikes match up with the Calgary Dinos in the opening round of the Select Six and the teams tied 0-0 in regular season play, Oct. 18. The Vikes are on the hunt for their fourth overall Canada West title, last won in 2008, while a berth to the CIS Championship would be their eighth appearance overall.

The Dinos head into the Canada West Select Six tournament after a big 4-0 win over crosstown rivals, the Mount Royal Cougars. Third-year Dino Maddie Lee will keep the Dinos organized in the midfield and is a major playmaker for Calgary. She has recorded seven assists in 2015, good for second in the conference. Third-year Dino Jordan Smith will provide the offensive prowess needed for the Dinos in the Select Six. Her eight goals lead the team in the regular season, and adding another five assists to her name tied Smith for the lead in Canada West for points during the regular season with 13.

With conference bragging rights and a pair of berths at the CIS national tournament Nov. 12-15 at UBC up for grabs, this weekend's Canada West Women's Soccer Select Six promises to provide plenty of drama in Saskatoon.
 
Both the host Saskatchewan Huskies (East Division champs) and the UBC Thunderbirds (West Division champs) earned byes to the semis by virtue of their No. 1 division seeds, while the remaining four teams – Calgary, MacEwan, Victoria, and Trinity Western – face off in the quarters on Thursday.
 
With UBC already having earned a spot at the national tournament as host, two additional berths at the CIS tournament are up for the taking.
 
The conference's revamped playoff format this season, which saw 12 teams earn spots in the post-season for the first time in conference history, didn't provide much in the way of upsets during last weekend's regional playoffs.

Last weekend's relatively anticipated results, however, should only make for a better Select Six, as five of the conference's top six regular season teams are ready to settle things on the pitch.

On the East side the top three teams all advanced, as first place Saskatchewan handled sixth place Lethbridge with a 3-0 win, second place Calgary easily handled Mount Royal 4-0 and third place MacEwan downed Manitoba 2-0.

Across the Rockies in the West, it was more of the same when it came to the division powers taking care of business.

UBC dismissed Thompson Rivers 6-1, while Trinity Western had a tougher time defeating Alberta 1-0.

The only upset – if you want to call it that – came when Victoria, who finished fourth in the division during the regular season, secured an exciting 1-0 penalty kick win over Fraser Valley – the third place finished in the Pacific.

That result, however, was far from unexpected, as the two teams separated by just one point in the standings.

One of the weekend's most interesting storylines will be how the East Division fairs against the West. The men's playoffs proved BC schools as superior in 2015, with all four teams from the Prairies falling in the conference quarters to Pacific Division foes.

While UBC, Trinity and Victoria are all undoubtedly focussed on their own tasks, adding division bragging rights would surely be welcomed by all three.
Here's a look at all six teams, along with a complete tournament schedule.

For a full preview of the Select Six team, see below.
 
University of Saskatchewan Huskies
2014-15 CW Regular Season Record: 10-3-1
Position in standings: 1st, East Region
Last weekend: 3-0 win over Lethbridge in regionals
Last CW Title/Total CW Titles: N/A

Key performers: Fourth-year midfielder Erica Hindmarsh led the Huskie offence in 2015 with 12 points. The Saskatoon, Sask. native scored five goals and added a conference high seven assists in the regular season. Hindmarsh was an integral part of the Huskies quarter-final win with three points and was named the Canada West's Second star of the week. 

Team preview: The University of Saskatchewan Huskies earned the top seed in the East Division this season with a program best 10-3-1 record. Saskatchewan has yet to lose in two seasons on Field 7 in PotashCorp Park, posting a 7-0 record in 2015.

Saskatchewan is 2-2 against Select Six competition. The Huskies defeated Calgary 3-1 on the road and knocked off the MacEwan Griffins 2-0 at home. The Huskies lost to two of the West Division representatives. Saskatchewan lost 2-0 to Victoria and 4-1 to UBC on a tough weekend road trip to B.C.
The Huskies enter the weekend with a 6-0-1 record in their last seven matches. A 3-0 win over the Lethbridge Pronghorns on Saturday solidified hosting duties for the top seed out of the East Division. The Huskies leading scorer, Erica Hindmarsh, scored once and assisted on the other two goals in the win making it back-to-back multi-point games. 

UBC Thunderbirds
2015-16 CW Regular Season Record: 11-1-2
Position in standings: 1st, West Region
Last weekend: 6-1 W over Thompson Rivers in regionals
 Last CW Title/Total CW Titles: 2007/13

Key performers: UBC comes into the weekend with a number of key performers looking to cap their Canada West seasons in style. Third-year goalkeeper Olivia de Goede was a stalwart in the T-Birds' goal this season, leading the conference in wins (10) and shutouts (7). Up front, fellow third-year Jasmin Dhanda provided an offensive spark, leading the conference in shots (62), and finishing second in goals (8).

Team preview: The first year of the Marisa Kovacs era at UBC has been a success so far with just one loss in the regular season, which ended with the Thunderbirds sitting atop the league's West Division. The momentum has carried into the postseason as UBC defeated Thompson Rivers 6-1 in the opening round playoff match on Friday to advance to the Select Six.

Goalkeeper Olivia de Goede led the Canada West in wins (10) and shutouts (7) in 2015 regular season play, with her performance aided by a strong defensive corps anchored by centre backs Krista Whittake and Aman Shergill. The Thunderbirds gave up surrendered just eight goals in 14 contests, second-best in the Canada West. Midfielder Taylor Shannik continues to show all-star form, as she was second in the conference in assists, while Jasmin Dhanda is the team's main threat up front. She scored eight goals for UBC while leading the league in shots.

University of Calgary Dinos
2015-16 CW Regular Season Record: 8-3-3
Position in standings: 2nd, East Region
Last weekend: 4-0 win over MRU in regionals
Last CW Title/Total CW Titles: 2005/1

Key performers: Third-year forward Jordan Smith led the team in scoring with eight goals (tied for second in CW) and five assists. The Calgary native's 13 points was tied for first in the conference. Also key for the Dinos is another third-year, Maddie Lee. The midfielder, notched seven assists during the regular season to finish tied for second in that category. Lee provides a leadership presence for Calgary as well, serving as team co-captain.

Team preview: The University of Calgary Dinos head into the Canada West Select Six tournament after a big win over crosstown rivals, the Mount Royal Cougars. On Saturday, the Dinos dominated the Cougars in a 4-0 rout to win their first playoff game since they won the Canada West title a decade ago in 2005. With the win, the Dinos are set to face the Victoria Vikes in the conference quarterfinals, hosted by Saskatchewan. The last time these two teams played was one of the last games of the season on Oct. 18 at home. Both teams earned a shutout in the match as the results was a nil-nil draw. 

Some players to watch on the Dinos squad include third-years Maddie Lee and Jordan Smith. Lee keeps the team calm, cool and collected in the midfield and is a major playmaker for Calgary. She has recorded seven assists in 2015, good for second in the conference. For Smith, her offence prowess is a key factor for the Dinos. Her eight goals leads the team. Add another five assists and she's tied for the lead in Canada West in points in the regular season. Forward Natalie Arnett entered the playoffs without a point, but came up big against Mount Royal on Saturday, scoring the opening two goals of the game.

Trinity Western University Spartans
2014-15 CW Regular Season Record: 10-1-2
Position in standings: 2nd, West Region
Last weekend: 1-0 W over Alberta in West Region Playoffs
Last CW Title/Total CW Titles: 2014/6

Key Performers: Spartans goalkeeper Ally Williamson is arguably the best netminder in the country and comes into this weekend's Select Six having gone six games without allowing a goal. Dating back to Sept. 18, Williamson has allowed only two goals in 12 games and she was instrumental in the Spartans 1-0 win over Alberta in the first game of the playoffs. Fifth-year midfielder Ali Oliverio led Canada West with 10 goals in the regular season and throughout the year was consistently amongst the Spartans best players on the pitch. She provides a calming presence for TWU and her ability to strike from the penalty spot is uncanny.

Team Preview: The Spartans are the defending Canada West champions and, despite fielding a fairly young roster this year – one that started four first-year players in the opening round of the playoffs – TWU looks very much capable of repeating. The Spartans scored a Canada West-leading 37 goals during the regular season while allowing a conference-low six. With their long-standing pedigree and recent success – the Spartans are riding a 14-match unbeaten streak – expectations are once again lofty. The Spartans have played in six of the last seven Canada West gold medal matches, winning four of them, and there's no reason to believe this year's team can't make it seven from eight.

This year, TWU only dropped points against three teams. However, one of those teams was Select Six Quarter-Final foe MacEwan. Competing in Edmonton, the teams played to a 1-1 draw, with TWU needing a second-half goal to even the score line, in the only previous meeting between these two teams. 

MacEwan University Griffins
2014-15 CW Regular Season Record: 7/4/3
Position in standings: 3rd, East Region
Last weekend: 2-0 win over Manitoba in the regionals
Last CW Title/Total CW Titles: N/A

Key performers: First-year keeper Emily Burns was 5-2-2 in the regular season and posted four shut-outs, a .786 save percentage, and 33 saves on the regular season. Burns earned her first postseason start and clean sheet against the Bisons on Friday. Fifth-year midfielder and team captain Jennifer Lam had a surge in the latter part of the season, notching three goals and five assists that included two successful game-winning penalty kicks. Lam was also named a Canada West second star for the week ending October 18th. Originally a midfielder, the Griffins moved Meagan Lemoine up to forward early in the season and the rookie has flourished. In the regular season Lemoine scored six goals and two assists, and then added a post-season assist to her stats. The Edmonton native was also named a Canada West second star for the week ending October 4th.

Team Preview: The Griffins and Spartans met for the first and only time in their program's collective histories on Sunday, October 4^th in one of the first crossover matches between the Prairie and Pacific Divisions in the 2015/16 regular season. A physical and competitive match ended in a 1-1 tie, with a goal by MacEwan University in the 43^rd minute and the equalizer from TWU in the 50^th.

The Griffins are eager for the challenge of taking on the six-time conference champions early in their Canada West tenure.

"We look forward to the opportunity to compete at the Select Six, we've worked hard to get to this point, and are ready for the task ahead of us," said Griffins head coach Dean Cordeiro. "We know that it will be a challenging one with the likes of Trinity Western, a program that is obviously experienced with playoffs."

University of Victoria Vikes
2014-15 CW Regular Season Record: 7-3-4
Position in standings: 4th, West Division
Last weekend: 1-0 over Fraser Valley (5-3 K)
Last CW Title/Total CW Titles: 2008/3

Key performers: A pair of strikers lead the Vikes' offensive charge, as fifth-year Emma Greig led the team in points (8) and shots (33) this season. Rookie Kiara Kilbey also provided a spark with six goals and assist in 12 games during the regular season. Veteran keeper Meaghan Storie posted a solid GAA of .843 (3rd in Canada West) and .843 SV% (4th in Canada West) in 14 regular season games.

Brief preview: The University of Victoria Vikes women's soccer team enter the Canada West Select Six after a thrilling quarter-final win over the Fraser Valley Cascades, Oct. 31, in Abbotsford, B.C.

Following 120 minutes of scoreless play the two teams went straight to kicks, where the Vikes did not disappoint. Five Vikes buried their shots from the spot, while fourth-year keeper Meaghan Storie made a pivotal save on the Cascades' second shooter to seal the victory, eventually 5-3. After a 7-3-4 regular season the Vikes are undoubtedly going to rely on their dynamic attacking duo of fifth year Emma Greig and first year Kiara Kilbey to drive the offence, while the defensive duties held by Lindsay Machin, Samantha Lee, and Elise Butler will be critical alongside Storie's consistent performance between the pipes.

The Vikes match up with the Calgary Dinos in the opening round of the Select Six and the teams tied 0-0 in regular season play, Oct. 18. The Vikes are on the hunt for their fourth overall Canada West title, last won in 2008, while a berth to the CIS Championship would be their eighth appearance overall.