The University of Victoria’s field hockey team will try to complete the three-peat at nationals this weekend.
The back-to-back U Sports champion Vikes will have to win a best-of-three series against the University of Toronto over the Nov. 12 to 14 weekend if they want to remain the top team in Canada.
It’ll be familiar territory for Victoria after competing in five national finals in the last six years, while Toronto makes its first championship appearance since 2010.
Both the Vikes (7-0-1) and Varsity Blues (8-0-2) enter the weekend series with undefeated records. Victoria’s lone tie of the season came during the Canada West tournament, where they claimed their third-straight Western Canada title.
READ: University of Victoria Vikes take back-to-back national field hockey titles
Anna Mollenhauer, Chloe Langkammer, Libby Hogg and Robin Fleming all earned conference All-Star nods for the Vikes. Mollenhauer – MVP of the 2019 nationals – was also the Canada West player of the year, while Langkammer claimed rookie of the year honours after leading the Vikes in scoring this season.
Fleming, Victoria’s goalkeeper, posted a 0.38 goals-against average after only allowing three goals all season. The Vikes have outscored their opponents 32-3 in 2021.
Victoria won the 2018 and 2019 national championships, with the 2020 contest cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Vikes also won in back-to-back years twice in the ’90s, but have never completed the three-peat.
Game one of the U Sports championship series kicks off at 3 p.m. Pacific time on Friday in Toronto.
READ: Historic win earns Vikes women’s rugby first-ever semifinal berth at nationals
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