Tigers place 5th at field hockey OUAs

With a 2-1 victory over the York Lions on October 30 in Toronto, the Tigers secured fifth place at the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Championship. Add to that the Atlantic University Field Hockey League Championship they won October 17 in PEI and you get the best finish for the team in nearly 30 years.  

Tigers head coach Linda Bonin, who has been with the team for a decade, couldn’t be more thrilled with how the team played. “Everyone was pretty nervous heading up to Ontario; we knew that the competition would be intense and that we’d have to step up our game in order to beat some of those Ontario university teams.”

The Tigers lost their first match at the OUA tournament on Friday afternoon to the Waterloo Warriors 0-3 but Bonin says the score didn’t necessary represent how the team played. “The game was actually a lot closer than the score indicates. We were right there with them but unfortunately we didn’t get the bounces we needed. One stroke hit the post and we had a near goal on an open net as well. I guess luck just wasn’t on our side.” Second year Dalhousie student Alex Turiff (Vancouver, BC) was named as the Tiger’s all-star for the game.

The loss to Waterloo set up a game the following day against York, who had also lost their first game of the tournament.

Turriff was again a force for the Tigers, scoring twice in the first half. Despite some bouts of sustained pressure, the Lions were unable to respond before halftime when Shannon Vance scored in the 66^th minute. Bonin credits the team’s strong defensive play, coupled with a great offensive effort and a lot of heart for the win. Jessie Janes was awarded the game’s all-star for Dalhousie.

Janes, a third year kinesiology student and native of Halifax, was also named a Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) second team all-Canadian on November 3, at the CIS all-Canadian awards banquet in Guelph, ON.

A team captain for the Tigers, Bonin describes Janes as a strong leader and great role model for her teammates, adding she played a huge part in pulling this year’s rookie-heavy team together and motivating them to work hard, both on and off the field. Janes scored a team-leading seven goals this season, the second highest scorer in the Atlantic University Field Hockey League. She was an Atlantic University Sport all-star this season as well as last, with the versatility to play either forward or defense at any given time.   

This is the second all-Canadian win for the Dalhousie women’s field hockey team in as many years; Alex Turriff was a second team all-Canadian for the 2009-10 season.

Other players named to the first and second all-Canadian teams were:

First Team

Position - Athlete - University - Year - Hometown - Faculty

Midfield, Mandy Avery, Saint Mary's, 3, Halifax, NS, Arts
Defence, Kirsten Bertsch, UBC, 4, Duncan, BC, Arts
Midfield, Courtney Campbell, Calgary, 4, Calgary, AB, Nursing
Mid./Def., Perri Espeseth, Victoria, 5, Duncan, BC, Fine Arts
Mid./Fwd., Danielle Hennig, Victoria, 3, Kelowna, BC,, Education
Midfield, Sarah MacAulay, UBC, 4, Vancouver, BC, Visiting
Midfield, Effie Petrou, York, 5, Oakville, ON, Health
Forward, Brittany Seidler, Guelph, 2, Oliver, ON, Arts
Forward, Brienne Stairs, Guelph, 4, Kitchener, ON, Biomedical Sciences
Defence, Jacqueline Trautman, Alberta, 3, Delta, BC Sciences
Defence, Kaelan Watson, Toronto, 3, Richmond, BC, Physical Education

Second Team

Midfield, Jessie Janes, Dalhousie, 2, Halifax, NS, Kinesiology
Defence, Kyla Kirby, Victoria, 2, Victoria, BC, Social Sciences
Goalkeeper, Kaye McLagan, Guelph, 2, Mitchell, ON, Arts
Fwd./Mid., Kyesia O'Neale, Toronto, 5, Mississauga, ON, Engineering
Defence, Jennifer Peacock, Alberta, 5, Calgary, AB, Nursing
Defence, Carolina Romeo, Calgary, 3, Calgary, AB, Engineering
Forward, Megan Scraper, Western, 3, West Vancouver, BC, IMS
Midfield, Natalie Sourisseau, UBC, 1, Kelowna, BC, Human Kinetics
Forward, Tegan Stairs, Guelph, 2, Kitchener, ON, BAH. CJPP
Midfield, Camille St-Cyr, McGill, 3, Richmond, BC, Biology
Midfield, Hannah Tighe, Toronto, 4, Penticton, B.C. European Studies