The UVic women’s field hockey team won its third straight U Sports national championship with a shootout win over the University of Toronto Sunday.
Chloe Langkammer scored twice to help the Vikes earn a 2-2 tie in regulation time before emerging victorious 3-1 in the shootout.
“I’m just super proud of our athletes,” said Vikes head coach Lynne Beecroft. “It was a great tournament. We are obviously very equal teams and it came down to three shootouts. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that so I’m very, very proud.”
Both Toronto goals came by way of penalty corners. Victoria was the only team to score in open play during the tournament.
“We put in a lot of work over the last two years to get here and we didn’t give up,” said UVic goalkeeper Robin Fleming. “I’m so proud of all of my teammates. They made my job easy today. They made me not have to do much in the second half. I’m not a fan of shootouts but I’m just so happy and proud that it all paid off.”
After losing to the Varsity Blues in Friday’s opener in Toronto, game two was a must-win for the Vikes. The team managed to flip the result of Friday’s shootout loss with a 2-1 shootout victory on Saturday.
“Yesterday we had a tough loss in the shootout but today we came back with our hearts in, so we were ready for anything,” said Chloe Langkammer, who netted Victoria’s lone regulation goal.
Langkammer, Fleming, Anna Mollenhauer, and Libby Hogg 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 posted a 0.38 goals-against average after only allowing three goals all season. The Vikes outscored their opponents 32-3 in the 2021 regular season.
The University of Victoria women’s rugby team lost in a heartbreaking fashion on Friday as a penalty goal in the final minute of double overtime ended their chances to be the best in the country.
The Vikes fell 17-14 to the University of Ottawa in their U Sports quarterfinal match on Nov. 12.
UVic never held a lead, but came back to even up the score every time the Gee-Gees inched ahead.
Laval University held off the Vikes 32-26 in the bronze-medal game on Sunday.
UVic was presented with the R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award, a recognition bestowed annually to the team or player that best exhibits the standards of fair play throughout the U SPORTS championship tournament.
