Hall of Fame
OWIAA AND CIAU CHAMPIONS
In 1975 the U of T women’s field hockey team not only captured the inaugural CIAU championship, but with that victory became the first Varsity Blues women’s squad to earn a National university title.
Led by head coach and U of T Sports Hall Fame member Liz Hoffman, the team qualified for the first Canadian university championship with an impressive display at the OWIAA championships at York University. The Varsity Blues won their 13th straight OWIAA title with a 7-0 record, while outscoring the opposition by an impressive 27-0 margin.
At the CIAU Championship hosted by the University of British Columbia, U of T opened the round-robin portion of the event with a pair of shutout victories over Lakehead (2-0) and McGill (3-0). The Varsity Blues started the second day of competition with a 3-0 win over Dalhousie, before falling 3-2 on penalty strokes to the University of Victoria in their final match of round robin play. The 3-1 record earned U of T a three-way tie for first place with UVic and Dalhousie. U of T claimed the top spot on goal differential and with it, a place in the finals versus UVic.
After a scoreless opening half in the final, U of T’s Anne Hofland scored early in the second stanza to give U of T a 1-0 advantage, a lead that they would never relinquish. The Varsity Blues then controlled play tuntil the final horn to earn the inaugural National crown.
Carol MacDougall paced U of T with a three-goal tournament, while Diana Millar, Anne Hofland and co-captain Susan Scott added two goals apiece.
The 1975 CIAU Championship team pictured above included L-R, Back Row: Sister Susan Scott, Terry Knight, Diana (Millar) Prentice-Campo, Barb (Thompson) Smith, Kathy (Stewart) Clemens, manager. Middle Row: Wendy Grater, Cathy (Brown) Coffin, Anne Hofland, Carol MacDougall, Donna (Walker) Foord, Liz (Daniel) Hoffman, coach. Front Row: Pat Williams, Lou-Ann (Mailing) Westlake, Penny (Redmann) Reilly, Lynn (Knott) Halliday, Nancy (Wehrens) Dupuis.
