What’s better than sweeping your rivals in a two-game weekend series? Shutting them out in both games and winning by a combined score of 8-0. This is what the UBC women’s field hockey team was able to accomplish, beating the University of Calgary Dinos 5-0 on Saturday and then again on Sunday with 3-0.
Both games saw the T-Birds assert total dominance over the Dinos, keeping play almost exclusively in the Dinos' defensive end. Three different T-Birds scored in Sunday’s game and goal-tending was split down the middle between Gabriella Switzer and Rowan Harris.
UBC midfielder Rachel Donohoe was also named as the 2016 Canada West MVP shortly after the match ended. Donohoe is in her fourth year at UBC and with the Thunderbirds.
The wins were a bonus for the ’Birds, as they’ve already clinched their 26th Canada West title after beating the University of Victoria Vikes twice two weeks ago. They won the first game 1-0, and scored late in the second to win 2-1 and clinch the title in dramatic fashion.
Overall, the T-Birds finished the 2016 season undefeated with a final record of 6-0-2. The draws came from the first two games of the season, both of which were against the Vikes and had a final score of 1-1.
The ’Birds have also only conceded a total of three goals over the course of the entire eight-game season.
The T-Birds now have two weeks to prepare for the CIS national championships that will be held at the University of Toronto starting on Thursday, November 3. They’ll be hoping to continue their success on the East Coast as they try to capture their sixth straight CIS national title.