November 7, 2004

UBC repeats as Canadian University Field Hockey Champions

UBC repeats as Canadian University Field Hockey Champions

EDMONTON (CIS) - The UBC Thunderbirds have two good reasons to celebrate after completing a perfect season.

With a convincing 3-0 win over arch-rival Victoria in the final of the CIS women's field hockey championship, the Thunderbirds repeated as McCrae Cup champions for the first time since 1999, and tied the Vikes all-time record of 10 national titles.

UBC claims a fifth title in seven years, four of them over Victoria.

Third-year forward Tiffany Michaluk (West Vancouver) was chosen tournament MVP, while three of her teammates were named to the all-star team, including CIS player of the year Stephanie Jameson (Vancouver).

After defeating Victoria on penalty strokes for the gold medal a year ago, the Thunderbirds left no chance to their Canada West rivals this time around.

All-Canadian forward Stephanie Quinn (Vancouver) scored twice, including the game winner in the 27th minute, while Jameson sealed the victory with one minute left in the contest.

Quinn was clearly the best player of the final, showing her speed, skill and soft touch around the net all game long. It took several key saves by all-tournament goalie Gillian Batey (Victoria) to keep the T-Birds from running away early.

UBC finally broke through for the only goal of the first half when Quinn found the back of the net from just inside the circle. The Vancouver native almost scored again three minutes later when she wheeled down the right side of the pitch, cut to the middle and made a remarkable reverse stick chip that sailed over the Victoria net as the half wound down.

Quinn potted her second of the day 54 minutes in to add some insurance.

Tournament MVP Tiffany Michaluk, UBC (West Vancouver)

Tournament All-Stars Laura Dowling, UBC (Kanata, Ont.) Stephanie Quinn, UBC (Vancouver) Tifany Michaluk, UBC (West Vancouver) Stephanie Jameson, UBC (Vancouver) Katie Rushton, Victoria (Victoria) Gillian Batey, Victoria (Victoria) Thea Culley Victoria (Rossland, B.C.) Katie Baker, Saint Mary's (Argyle Shore, P.E.I.) Jessalyn Jennings, Waterloo (Calgary) Robin Leslie-Spencer, Toronto (Flamborough, Ont.) Alex Chacinski, Toronto (Toronto)

Scoring Summary UBC - 1-2:3 UVIC- 0-0:0

First half UBC 1 27:00, Stephanie Quinn, 1-0

Second half UBC - 54:00, Stephanie Quinn, 2-0 UBC - 69:00, Stephanie Jameson, 3-0

Goaltenders UBC: Sarah Duggan (70:00, 4-0-0) UVIC: Gillian Batey (70:00,