The University of Victoria Vikes women聮s soccer team will go into the CIS national championship as the second best team in the sa国际传媒 West and will thus take a lower seed heading into the upcoming eight-team event.
Coach Tracy David聮s Vikes dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker to the Trinity Western University Spartans at the sa国际传媒 West championship final in Langley on Saturday night, battling back from a 2-0 deficit, only to fall a goal short.
To make matters worse, injuries and ejections could affect both clubs this week.
聯It was a very physical battle out there tonight,聰 said David, who will now re-focus on nationals. 聯It was very tough and costly as both teams suffered injuries. It was an emotionally charged game, but I聮m so proud of my team who fought and fought.聰
Trinity Western聮s Vanessa Kovacs was given a red card for a hard tackle on Emma Greig. Victoria聮s Janelle Smith was also injured on another challenge and was taken to hospital after suffering a leg injury.
David was ejected from the game in the second half and, like Kovacs, could miss the first game of nationals.
sa国际传媒 West rookie of the year Krista Gommeringer opened the scoring for Trinity Western in the 25th minute and upped the advantage to 2-0 in the 68th minute. Carsen Machin replied with a goal in the 75th minute for Victoria.
The victory means the Spartans will be the higher seed for the national tournament that begins on Thursday in Victoria.
The Vikes and Trinity Western will be joined by Ottawa, Laurier, Cape Breton and Dalhousie with two more national slots to be determined today.
The Vikes will open the CIS tournament on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Centennial Stadium no matter who the opponent will be.
Victoria won a marathon on Friday night, outlasting the UBC Thunderbirds 1-0 (9-8) in penalty kicks. Both teams went 10 shooters deep before Victoria finally finished off their rivals in a spirited game.
Eight Vikes聮 shooters were successful from the penalty spot before Bijou Leavins finally finished it off. After eight UBC tallies, Vikes goalkeeper Stephanie Parker stopped Madison Guy and was then called upon to finish off the game, but her shot went wide.
Parker then halted Taryn Lim聮s offering before Leavis ended it.
聯It was a pretty even game with both teams having chances throughout regular time,聰 David said of Friday聮s thriller. 聯It was a really physical and hard-fought game for us.聰
VIKES GO WINLESS
IN FIELD HOCKEY
The women聮s field hockey team lost 1-0 to the No. 2-seeded Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday, finishing the CIS national tournament 0-4. Victoria, a young team that went into the five-team tournament as the No. 4 seed, scored just once in four games and allowed 13 goals against.
聯We have 11 rookies and that was the way we needed to end,聰 Vikes head coach Lynne Beecroft said of the final gritty effort. 聯They played with heart and energy and passion. Hopefully we can go forward from here and see ourselves in the next CIS championship.聰
It was the Vikes聮 31st national championship appearance.
Kathleen Leahy was named Victoria聮s player of the game, while goalkeeper Kathryn Williams earned the nod for Toronto. Tegan Stairs had the lone goal.
Toronto will face the UBC Thunderbirds in today聮s final with the west coast team playing in its fourth consecutive McCrae Cup final.
