The University of Victoria’s field hockey program has captured its fourth-straight Canada West title, setting up a match against Ontario’s top university team for the national championship.
The Canada West champ is determined by the team with the best regular season record. Going into the final weekend of play, the Vikes had a one-win advantage over the University of British Columbia, meaning Victoria needed a single victory to secure their place atop the conference.
UVic did just that on Saturday (Oct. 22), shutting out UBC 4-0 in Vancouver. Erin Dawson opened the scoring off a penalty corner just before the halfway point of the match. The Vikes held that slim lead until the last 10 minutes of play, when Anna Mollenhauer scored two in a row to cushion the win. Chloe Langkammer added the Vikes’ fourth goal.
Following up on the Saturday performance, Mollenhauer put two more in the back of the net on Sunday (Oct. 23). With eight goals on the year, Mollenhauer was named the Canada West player of the year for the second season in a row and the third time in her career.
The Western Canada champ Vikes also saw Maeve Connorton, Libby Hogg, Chloe Langkammer and Nora Struchtrup ascend to the conference’s All-Star team. Head coach Lynne Beecroft also earned Canada West coach of the year accolades.
As the Canada West champion, the Vikes will host the 2022 U SPORTS national championships against the Ontario University Athletics champion. The national title will be decided by a best-of-three playoff in Greater Victoria from Nov. 3 to 7.
READ: Vikes field hockey, rugby players awarded as playoffs near
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