The No. 1 nationally ranked Varsity Blues field hockey team fell 1-0 on Saturday (Nov. 4) afternoon in Game 2 of a best-of-three U SPORTS National Championship series versus the No. 2 Victoria Vikes, sending the matchup to a third and deciding contest.

Action began at Toronto's Back Campus Fields with both sides nearly finding the net from short corner opportunities, however, Toronto goalie Deepi Gill and Victoria goalie Anais Chace carried over their strong Game 1 performances into the second day, turning aside the early attacks.

As the second quarter began, the U of T defence was put to task as Victoria kept the ball in the Blues end for a majority of the period. However, Toronto was able to close out on the Vikes attack with great defensive efforts from fourth-year defender Evianne Rovers and second-year forward and midfielder Madeline Skeans.

Deadlocked at 0-0 through the first half, both teams quickly made their way back on the field to start the second half, but the defensive stalemate continued as neither team were able to find pay-dirt.

For Toronto, scoring chances came just past the midway mark of the third quarter when a hard pass into the circle nearly found the outstretched stick of third-year Molly Koop, and halfway through the fourth when a powerful shot from second-year Kirsten D'Silva following a short corner was saved by a Chace kick save.

Then with just two minutes remaining in the game, Victoria moved quickly off a foul sending the ball into the Toronto circle where first-year forward Josie Dunham was able to chip the ball over a defenders stick before depositing a shot into the lower corner of the Blues net for the game-winner.

Blues goalies Gill earned player of the game honours for Toronto after delivering another stellar performance in goal, while Chloe Langkammer was named the Vikes player of the game following an impressive outing controlling the midfield in the Game 2 victory.

"Game 1 we wanted to play our best, we knew if we went to a shootout our goal-stopper was key for us and she came through, so our prep for today was to play the same style that we did yesterday, but the better team won today," noted Varsity Blues field hockey head coach Cassius Mendonça. "They [Victoria] are a team that is relentless, they play wide, and they come out a lot, so we just got to stay focused, be composed, and we will be ready for tomorrow."
 
The Blues and Vikes are right back on the pitch tomorrow afternoon for Game 3 of the national championship final. Toronto is in pursuit of their 12^th U SPORTS title in program history, while Victoria is aiming for their fifth consecutive national banner and 16^th overall. Action is scheduled to start at Back Campus Fields at 1 p.m. (EST) with tickets available at varsityblues.ca/tickets, while the game is also streamed online via cbcsports.ca and the CBC Gem app.