TORONTO (CIS) – The No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds scored in the 70^th minute to tie the host and No. 2 Toronto Varsity Blues 1-1 in Game 1 of the FHC – CIS women’s field hockey championship on Thursday morning at Varsity Centre.
 
U of T rookie forward Emma Stairs of Kitchener, Ont., opened the scoring in the 56^th minute when she took a pass from her sister and CIS all-Canadian Tegan Stairs and rifled a shot past UBC goalie Bea Francisco of Richmond, B.C.
 
The Thunderbirds had numerous penalty corners in the last 14 minutes of the match, and finally capitalized on the last play of the game when fourth-year defender Miranda Mann of Duncan, B.C., sent a booming shot past U of T netminder Kathryn Williams of Burlington, Ont.
 
“One point is better than none,” said UBC head coach Hash Kanjee. “I’m really glad we capitalized after having so many chances. I thought Toronto came alive in the second half so we’ll have to make sure we’re ready for that if we meet them again.”
 
The Thunderbirds came out and dominated the first 20 minutes of action, with the majority of the play stuck in U of T’s end.
 
The first scoring chance of the game came when 2012 CIS all-Canadian Natalie Sourisseau of Kelowna, B.C., came streaking into the circle and drew a penalty corner opportunity in the 20^th minute. Toronto denied two short corner opportunities and used that momentum to pick up their play.
 
Despite a few opportunities for both teams, the game remained scoreless at the half.
 
“I thought we created some really good chances in the first half but we didn’t capitalize on them and that cost us,” added Kanjee.
 
U of T leading scorer Ally Evanyshyn had a great chance to open the scoring in the 42^nd minute, when she found herself all alone in the circle, but was denied by Francisco. Two minutes later, Poonan Sandhu of Vancouver had a great opportunity for the T-Birds but sent a shot just wide of the net and Blues netminder Katherine Williams (Burlington, Ont.).
 
Varsity Blues head coach John DeSouza was impressed with his team’s play and the leadership that Tegan Stairs showed.
 
“The whole team played really well but Tegan is a game-breaker. She’s exciting to watch and she’s going to cause other teams a lot of problems. We played great team defence which we haven’t had all season long.”
 
Next up for Toronto is a match versus the fifth seed Western Mustangs at 3:30 p.m.. UBC is set for a tilt with the fourth-seeded Victoria Vikes at 5:50 p.m.

 

SCORING SUMMARY
UBC 0-1: 1
TOR: 0-1: 1
 
First half
No scoring.
 
Second half
TOR Emma Stairs (1), 56^th
UBC Miranda Mann (1), 70^th


Goaltenders
UBC: Bea Francisco (T, 70:00, 1 GA, 0-0-1)
TOR: Kathryn Williams (T, 70:00, 1 GA, 0-0-1)
 
Players of the game
TOR: Amanda Woodcroft (Waterloo, Ont.)
UBC: Sara McManus (Delta, B.C.)
 

PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDING

 
1. UBC (Canada West champions)
2. Toronto (OUA champions)
3. Guelph (OUA finalists)
4. Victoria (Canada West second place)
5. Western (OUA bronze medallists)
 
STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS
 
Official championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/fh/index
 
Round-robin standings (after 1 of 10 games)
 
                        GP       W         L          T          GF       GA       PTS
1. UBC             1          0          0          1          1          1          1
2. Toronto         1          0          0          1          1          1          1
3. Guelph          0          0          0          0          0          0          0
4. Victoria         0          0          0          0          0          0          0
5. Western        0          0          0          0          0          0          0
 
NOTE: 3 points for a win and 1 point for a tie.
 
Thursday, Nov. 1
9:30 Game 1: UBC 1 Toronto 1 (CIS-SIC.tv webcast)
11:50 Game 2: Guelph vs. Victoria (CIS-SIC.tv webcast)
15:30 Game 3: Toronto vs. Western (CIS-SIC.tv webcast)
17:50 Game 4: UBC vs. Victoria (CIS-SIC.tv webcast)
 
Friday, Nov. 2
10:00 Game 5: Guelph vs. Toronto (CIS-SIC.tv webcast)
12:20 Game 6: Victoria vs. Western (CIS-SIC.tv webcast)
16:00 Game 7: UBC vs. Guelph (CIS-SIC.tv webcast)
 
Saturday, Nov. 3
10:00 Game 8: Guelph vs. Western (CIS-SIC.tv webcast)
12:20 Game 9: Toronto vs. Victoria (CIS-SIC.tv webcast)
16:00 Game 10: UBC vs. Western (CIS-SIC.tv webcast)
17:30 Tie-Breaking Strokes (if necessary)
 
Sunday, Nov. 4
10:00 Bronze medal (CIS-SIC.tv webcast)
13:00 Championship final (CIS-SIC.tv webcast)
 
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
 
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, 11,000 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 54 universities and four regional associations 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 or follow us on:
 
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CIS_SIC  
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cissports
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/universitysport
 
-CIS-
 
For more information:
 
Michel Bélanger        
Manager, Communications & Media Relations
Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Off: (613) 562-5670 ext. 25
Cell: (613) 447-6334
belanger@universitysport.ca
www.cis-sic.ca
 
Jill Clark
Coordinator, Sports Information
University of Toronto
Off: (416) 978-4263
Cell: (416) 938-1620
jill.clark@utoronto.ca