Women's sports at the University of Victoria saw a bittersweet weekend after the rugby and soccer teams brought home silver, and the field hockey team claimed their sixth consecutive national championship.
On Sunday, Nov. 3, the Vikes field hockey team blanked York University 1-0 in Toronto to take their sixth-straight U SPORTS national championship title.
In the second minute of the game, a penalty stroke was given to Victoria, and Anni Kleinschmidt stepped up and scored to give the Vikes an early lead that would be the only scoring of the game. Goalkeeper Anais Chace and Talia Pike combined for four-straight shutouts at the tournament for the Vikes, who outscored their opponents 11-0.
On the same day in Charlottetown, the Vikes rugby team lost a "heartbreaker" in the U SPORTS championship gold medal game, falling 8-3 to UBC to settle for the silver medal position.
A penalty goal by UBC in the fourth minute gave the Thunderbirds an early 3-0 lead, which remained the score for most of the game until UBC scored a try to go ahead 8-0 in the 65th minute of the game. UVic made it on to the scoreboard in the 78th minute when Vanessa Chiappetta scored a penalty goal to make it 8-3. The loss gave the Vikes their second consecutive silver medal in women's rugby.
"Though the Vikes battled to get on the board, a knock-on or uncaught ball recovered by UBC stifled their scoring chances throughout the game," noted a news release from the VIkes. "The Vikes defence held the Thunderbirds to just eight points, marking UBC's lowest-scoring game of the year."
On Saturday, Nov. 2, the women's soccer team fell to the University of British Columbia 3-0 in the gold medal game of the Canada West playoffs in Calgary.
The UBC Thunderbirds took a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute, and that score would remain in place through halftime before the T-Birds took a 2-0 lead in the 51st minute and added a third goal in the 67th minute.
"Ruby Nicholas attempted a shot in the 54th minute from the top of the box, but a UBC defender managed to get a foot on the ball to block it. Sophie Fingarson added long shots in the 62nd and 74th minutes, but the UBC goalkeeper was able to get in front to make the stops," noted a Vikes news release.
The Vikes' silver medal was a first for the team since their 2017 season. The Vikes soccer team now moves on to Dalhousie University for the U SPORTS women's soccer championships starting on Nov. 7.
