It took a decade to get it, but coach Lynne Beecroft has her 12th U Sports national title in her 35 seasons at the helm of the University of Victoria Vikes women鈥檚 field-hockey team.
The Vikes won their first national crown since 2008 with a 3-1 victory over the York University Lions on Saturday in Toronto to sweep the best-of-three U Sports final series 2-0.
National Champs!!!
鈥� UVic Vikes (@uvicvikes)
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a long time,鈥� said Beecroft.
But well worth the decade wait.
鈥淲e were a team and not a bunch of individuals,鈥� said Beecroft.
It鈥檚 that approach that has helped the UVic program produce Olympians Deb Whitten, Rochelle Low, Laurelee Kopeck, Milena Gaiga and other national-team players such as Ali Lee, Kathleen Leahy, Kaitlyn Williams and Danielle Hennig.
Now comes the new generation.
鈥淲e had seven rookies and five fifth-year players,鈥� noted Beecroft, herself a Vikes alumnus and Olympian.
鈥淭he veterans were the calming influence while the rookies stepped up and scored four of our five goals in the national final. The next four years are going to be really exciting.鈥�
Vikes rookie and junior national team player Erin Dawson scored twice in the 2-1 victory on Friday in Game 1 with rookies Cara Butler and Stefanie Sajko scoring in Game 2, along with fifth-year player Lindsay Cole. Third-year Emily Wong of UVic was named MVP of the national final series.
The final game of their varsity careers was a memorable one for graduating fifth-year Vikes Cole, Kristina Walters-Shumka, Jenna Dhillon, Stefanie Langkammer and Delaney Booker.
鈥淲e had a great mix of senior leadership and rookies,鈥� said Beecroft.
Among the latter is Vikes freshman striker Samantha McCrory, who has already earned her first cap for sa国际传媒, and could be heard from in qualifying play on the road to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Among the UVic youth movement is sophomore defender Anna Mollenhauer, the St. Michaels University School graduate who was named both sa国际传媒 West and U Sports player of the year for 2018. She continues a Vikes lineage as the daughter of former UVic legend and 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Olympian Nancy Mollenhauer.
Another familial connection is Vikes freshman defender Judy Cristante, whose mother, Kolette, played for the 1987 and 1989 national champion UVic teams.
Beecroft is attuned to the full-circle feel of her program. She brought her previous Vikes national championship team together for a 10-year reunion for UVic鈥檚 final regular-season home game this season. There was a message she wanted the 2008 players to impart to her current group: 鈥淭he 2008 players know it鈥檚 not about winning a championship, it鈥檚 about the joy of playing and still being friends, and knowing you will walk with each other forever.鈥�
Even though a decade separates them, the 2008 and 2018 UVic teams now walk as national champions, along with 10 other Vikes teams. UVic鈥檚 12聽national championships is second only to UBC鈥檚 19 as this province is the epicentre of field hockey in sa国际传媒.
Yet, a successful coach never rests.
鈥淲e鈥檒l be scouting the sa国际传媒 high school AA and AAA championships next week,鈥� said Beecroft, who is always looking ahead.
