Canada: University Championship Day One Recap

Vikes and Lions come out on top on day one in Toronto

Day 1 of the U SPORTS Invitational Championships being held at York University began today with two matches on tap for Thursday afternoon. It was a windy Halloween afternoon at York’s stadium field as the final-four tournament began in style. 

Waterloo vs UVIC  

The early game saw the UVIC Vikes take on the OUA Champions Waterloo Warriors on a windy Thursday afternoon in Toronto. As the game started, both teams were trying to feel each other out and not make any major mistakes early on in the tournament. It seemed with this cageyness to the game neither side was able to create clear cut chance for a major part of the first quarter. The only notable chance came from a penalty corner by the Warriors whose set play nearly caught the Vikes out but a strong defensive effort by Victoria was able to keep Waterloo at bay. This story continued into the second quarter with neither side willing to give an inch and the game would go into half at 0-0. 

UVIC vs Waterloo Photo Gallery

 In such a tightly contested matchup both teams knew any key advantage they could get would be vital if they wanted to take home a win in their first game. That moment did end up coming and it came the way of the Vikes midway through the third quarter and with Victoria threatening, Waterloo was forced into giving up a penalty stroke. This penalty stroke allowed UVIC’s Anni Kleinschmidt to step up and have a one-on-one chance against the goalkeeper to give the Vikes the lead. With so much pressure to break the deadlock Kleinschmidt would not be denied as she gave the Vikes a game one advantage late in the third quarter.  

From there the Vikes were able to add a second goal in the fourth quarter. After being awarded a penalty corner the ensuing shot from the top of the circle took a couple deflections on the way through before nestling into the back of the Waterloo net. The goal was scored by Sadie Lee and the 2-0 scoreline was all it took for UVIC to take home the honours in game 1 of the tournament.

Waterloo and Victoria battle in round one at the 2024 University Championship. Photos/Yan Huckendubler

York vs UPEI  

In game two of the day the host York Lions faced off against the Atlantic champion UPEI Panthers with the Panthers featuring in their first U SPORTS national game in field hockey program history.  Things would get off to a rocky start for the Panthers, as just minutes into the game York was awarded a penalty corner that they would make no mistake with as Jewel Lew would give York a 1-0 lead in the blink of an eye. The Lions were not done though as after the 10-minute mark a fantastic passing move ended with a pass to Elma Arselan who found herself alone at the back post. With the ball rolling to her stick and a wide-open net she calmly fired the ball into the net making it 2-0 York in the first. 

York vs PEI Photo Gallery 

York would stay in control for the majority of the game and would go on to add another goal in the third courtesy of All-Canadian Abby Thompson with both Elyse Ives and Tessa Wang adding goal 4 and 5 in the fourth quarter leading to a 5-0 opening game victory for the hosts.  

After the game Lions midfielder Kathryn Carlow commented on how big winning the first game of the tournament is for the Lions saying, “It’s so important to come away with this win to create momentum and to keep building as this tournament goes on.” 

Day two matchups feature the UVIC Vikes taking on the UPEI Panthers at 2pm eastern followed by an all OUA matchup at 4pm with the York Lions taking on the Waterloo Warriors. All games can be streamed live through the CBC Sports YouTube channel over the course of the weekend. 

York takes on PEI during round robin play at the 2024 University Championship. Photos/Yan Huckendubler

HOW TO FOLLOW THE TOURNAMENT

Click on our tournament event page to follow results and see game scores as well as tournament photo galleries. Live stream the matches on the Field Hockey Canada Youtube Channel as well as the CBC Youtube Channel. Links will be made live on Thursday.

STREAM THE TOURNAMENT MATCHES HERE

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE