Victoria, BC – The University of Victoria's women's field hockey team fell to the University of British Columbia in a competitive 3-0 match, Oct. 18, at Lynne "Buzz" Beecroft Field.
 
Thunderbirds strike first, early in the first quarter
The Thunderbirds' Sydney Le capped an early offensive possession by the Thunderbirds by beating the Vikes' keeper low stick side. Her goal in the 3^rd minute pushed the Thunderbirds out to a fast 1-0 lead.
 
Thunderbirds buried another to extend their lead
As time wound down in the first quarter, the Thunderbirds earned a penalty corner in the 15^th minute. The corner was passed out to Sydney Le who blasted a shot towards the net. Her shot was deflected by Mikayla Stelling, fooling the Vikes defence and keeper, for the Thunderbirds' second of the game.
 
Chace turned aside T-Birds in close
The Thunderbirds broke through with a dangerous scoring opportunity, but Vikes' goaltender Anias Chace stood tall to turn aside the attempt to start the second quarter.
 
Le pushed the Thunderbirds lead out further with her second of the game
The Thunderbirds kept the forward pressure on as Thora Rae put a shot towards the net. Sydney Le deflected Rae's shot past the Vikes' keeper for her second of the game. Le's goal in the 27^th minute pushed the Thunderbirds' lead out to 3-0.

Vikes applied the offensive pressure in the third quarter but T-Birds' defence prevailed
The third quarter consisted of a predominantly Vikes' offensive attack. Their attempts were blocked or cleared by the Thunderbirds' defenders to keep the lead 3-0.
 
The 4^th quarter was filled with more Vikes' chances but Thunderbirds
The Vikes had back-to back penalty corner opportunities with key chances that came off the stick of Libby Hogg. Hogg's chances were blocked and redirected to extinguish the scoring opportunities. Another big rush came from Josie Dunham as she streaked down the sideline, but her shot was redirected away from the Thunderbirds' net.
 
With the win, the Thunderbirds cut into the Vikes' conference lead, improving their record to 4-1-2 while the Vikes fall to 5-1-1
 
These two squads will rematch tomorrow, Oct. 19, at Lynne "Buzz'" Beecroft Field. This final game of the season will have the Canada West Conference Title on the line.