VICTORIA, B.C. – The University of Victoria Vikes held off the surging University of Calgary Dinos for the 1-0 win on Saturday morning at the UVic Field Hockey Turf.

The Vikes came out and dominated the possession during their Canada West home opener.

Vikes head coach Lynne Beecroft dialed up several one-timer attempts for Anna Mollenhauer out of corner plays in the first quarter, but the Dinos did a good job of getting sticks into shooting lanes to disrupt the plays.

"The Dinos gave us their best today, all the way up to the end of the game. They played hard and made things difficult for us," said Beecroft.

Georgia Booker and Tessa Johnston forced turnovers up the left wing for the Vikes and Justine Balen was aggressive at keeping the ball in the Dinos' end, but the Vikes couldn't convert on a flurry of scoring chances in the first quarter.

The Dinos started the second quarter with a drive along the Vikes' end line, but it was broken up by a diving Judy Cristante. The Dinos managed to maintain possession until Emily Wong poked the ball free.

The defensive play by the fourth-year Vancouver product sent the Vikes up the soggy field where Zoe Bown chipped it over a diving Tayler Guy along the end line in the 21^st minute.

"I fumbled it a bit. I was on the right so I took it baseline. I knew their goalie challenges a lot, so she came out and I tapped it around her and it managed to boucen in," said Bown. "It wasn't the prettiest goal I've scored, but I'll take it."
Vikes keeper Robin Fleming kept the 1-0 lead just before half when her diving poke check ended a scoring threat by Adriana Aya Cristancho.

The Dinos came out buzzing after half and forced a pair of corners, but Jenna Bowers' strikes sailed wide and high of the cage.

The Vikes looked to stretch their lead in the fourth when Abigail Fung mishandled a breakout pass. Balen scooped up the turnover and set up Stefanie Sajko by the side of the net, but Guy was there to shut the door.

Pushing for the tying goal, Roel Van Maastrigt pulled Guy with 2:32 remaining in regulation. The Dinos had the Vikes hemmed in their own end for the remainder and drew four penalty corners in the final 60 seconds.

A blast from Bower clanked off the post with 30 seconds, as the Vikes held onto the 1-0 victory.

With the win, the Vikes improve to 2-0-3 and pull within one point of the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds (2-0-4) for top spot in the Canada West. The Dinos (0-4-3) will return to the UVic turf tomorrow at 11 a.m. (Pacific Time) for their final game of the regular season.

SCORING SUMMARY

VIC – Zoe Bown, 21', 1-0 VIC

GOALKEEPERS

VIC – Robin Fleming, 60 MP, 0GA

CGY – Tayler Guy, 57 MP, 1 GA

CARDS

VIC – Erin Dawson – Green card, 16'