GUELPH, Ont. (CIS) – The University of Toronto Varsity Blues blanked the reigning champion UBC Thunderbirds 1-0 in the first game of Day 2 at the CIS women’s field hockey championship, Friday morning.
The third-seeded Blues move to 2-0 in the four-game round-robin preliminary stage, while the No. 2 T-Birds drop to 2-1.
Rookie forward Alexandra Evanysnyn of Burlington, Ont., scored her third goal of the tournament in the 50th minute to secure win for Toronto.
“It’s not a surprise to me that she’s able to score, we brought her in as a goal-scoring threat,” said U of T head coach John De Souza of Evanysnyn. “What I’m really most impressed about is her composure inside the circle.”
The Blues demonstrated their depth by starting goaltender Samantha Lyzun of West Vancouver, B.C., who sat out against Victoria on Thursday. Kathryn Williams of Burlington, Ont., earned a 3-0 shutout in Toronto’s opener.
Lyzun was stellar between the pipes, making a diving stick save right before the half to keep the game scoreless as well as many kick saves on short corners.
“It’s a great duo,” De Souza said of his goalies. “They work well together and they’re very supportive of each other.”
The first half was mostly mid-field possession switching between the two teams. The first short corner occurred with just 11 minutes remaining in the opening frame.
In the 44th minute, UBC had a great scoring opportunity when the ball hit the post on a short corner but the strong Toronto defence managed to clear the rebound.
But it was Toronto who hit the back of the net. Evanysnyn, who has contributed most of the Blues offence thus far, chased a loose ball into the UBC end and pulled around the goalie to put it into the empty net.
The UBC all-stars shined for their team. Canada West MVP and all-Canadian Sarah MacAulay of Vancouver controlled the backfield and CIS rookie of the year Natalie Sourisseau of Kelowna, B.C., led the attack in the first half before limping to the sideline at the start of the second and sitting the rest of the game.
Pearson was named UBC player of the game for her two-way dominance.
Toronto’s Kaelan Watson led the offence and the defence for the Blues all game earning her player-of-the-game honours for the winners.
The Blues (2-0) continue their tough day when they face archrivals Guelph at 4 p.m. The tournament host Gryphons came into the championship as the No. 1 seed after edging Toronto 3-2 in the OUA final but are off to a 0-2 start following losses to UBC and Victoria.
SCORING SUMMARY
TOR 0-1: 1
UBC 0-0: 0
First half
No Scoring
Second half
50th, TOR, Alexandra Evanysnyn (3)
Goaltenders
TOR: Samantha Lyzun (W, 70:00, 0 GA, 1-0)
UBC: Bea Francisco (L, 70:00, 1 GA, 2-1)
Players of the game
TOR: Kaelan Watson (Richmond, B.C.)
UBC: Victoria Pearson (Tsawwassen, B.C.)
For all the info on the 2010 CIS women’s field hockey championship, visit: www.cis-sic.ca.
PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDING
1. Guelph Gryphons (OUA champions)
2. UBC Thunderbirds (Canada West champions)
3. Toronto Varsity Blues (OUA finalists)
4. Victoria Vikes (Canada West second place)
5. Waterloo Warriors (OUA bronze medallists)
STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Round-robin standings (after 5 of 10 games)
GP W L T GF GA PTS
1. Toronto 2 2 0 0 4 0 6
2. UBC 2 2 1 0 8 4 6
3. Victoria 2 1 1 0 2 4 3
4. Waterloo 1 0 1 0 2 6 0
5. Guelph 2 0 2 0 2 4 0
Thursday, Nov. 4
9:30 Round-Robin 1: Guelph 1, UBC 2
11:50 Round-Robin 2: Toronto 3, Victoria 0
15:30 Round-Robin 3: UBC 6, Waterloo 2
17:50 Round-Robin 4: Guelph 1 Victoria 2
Friday, Nov. 5
10:00 Round-Robin 5: Toronto 1, UBC 0
12:20 Round-Robin 6: Victoria vs. Waterloo
16:00 Round-Robin 7: Guelph vs. Toronto
Saturday, Nov. 6
10:00 Round-Robin 8: Toronto vs. Waterloo
12:20 Round-Robin 9: UBC vs. Victoria
16:00 Round-Robin 10: Guelph vs. Waterloo
17:30 Tie-Breaking Strokes (if necessary)
Sunday, Nov. 7
10:00 Bronze medal
13:00 Championship final
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty-one universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches 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 www.cis-sic.ca.
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For more information contact:
Michelle Pino
Media Relations & Sports Information Officer
University of Guelph Department of Athletics
Off: (519) 824-4120 ext. 53159
Cell: (519) 400-4622
mpino@uoguelph.ca
Michel Bélanger
Manager, Communications & Media Relations
Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Ph: (613) 562-5670 ext. 25
Cell: (613) 447-6334
Fax: (613) 562-5669
belanger@universitysport.ca
www.cis-sic.ca
