News and Announcements

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Thank you to everyone who contributed Mustard Seed donations in December! Vice President Shelley Andrews delivered several boxes of food, clothes and other necessities last week.

Your generosity and kindness will go along way.

Happy holidays!

Photos of the drop off on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vancouverislandladiesfieldhockey/posts/pfbid0cwZXtfhxT5vimB8emxhYkkGqvaiY6CxjHUiRPNzKZLWpauBUpFNUczs57DQki9fel

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The Holiday season is around the corner and in lieu of the VILFHA Christmas Meeting & Social that used to take place, the league is setting up a collection at the field in support of our community.

On Wednesday Dec. 7 and Saturday Dec. 10 there will be collection bins at the field and VILFHA encourages every member of playing teams to bring one or a few items to donate to the Mustard Seed on these days. Feel free to also collect more on your practice dates and then VILFHA will deliver this to the Mustard Seed Church and Food Bank. Please see the below guidelines. A box will be set up by the end of the first game on that date.

Current requests for donations

  • Sources of protein like peanut butter, canned fish (eg. Tuna) and canned meats (eg. Chicken, beef)
  • Healthy nonperishables (e.g., cereal, beans, pasta, canned vegetables and fruit)
  • Female hygiene Products
  • Toothpaste
  • Toilet Paper
  • Warm Clothes in new or very good condition (coats, mitts, socks, hats)

Items we won’t or are not taking

  • Meat
  • Dairy
  • Furniture
  • Kitchen supplies

Questions? Please connect with vilfha@gmail.com

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The Oak Bay senior girls field hockey team won the silver medal at the recent BC AAA Championships on Nov. 11 in Surrey, B.C. The team faced off with the perennial powerhouse from the North Shore, the Handsworth Royals and after a 0-0 tie, lost out in a shootout. It was an outstanding performance for the young team who graduate several key players last season. Oak Bay dominated the second half but a 0-0 scoreline was indicative of the play. It was familiar territory as Oak Bay beat Handworth in a shootout just the season before at the same championships.

After five rounds of shoot outs, the teams were again tied at 2-2, with goals by Maia Lawrence and Irene Morillas, and the outstanding goalkeeping of Anais Chace. In the sudden death shoot out, Handsworth took the title. Fellow Vancouver Island competitotrs, Cowichan Secondary, were out in full force to support Oak Bay, giving the more local Handsworth Royals fans serious cheering competition.

In addition to the silver medal, the Oak Bay team also won the BC AAA Field Hockey Fair Play Award. It was rare for a team in the final win this award but it was a credit to the team and their coaching staff for how they represented themselves on the field. The Fair Play Award is selected by the umpires through voting after each game. Teams are evaluated not only on their interactions with opponents and umpires, but also in how the team behaves and interacts with each other, including coach behaviour.

“We are beyond proud of this team,” said head coach Meena Sran. “It is a huge feat to make the finals two years ago, with such massive change on the team from last season to this season.”

The Oak Bay team started the season with seven returning players, but most playing different positions than last season. New coaches, Sran and Heather Benson, manager Carla Unger, and nine new faces including five international students. One week after school started, and after only two practices, the team finished second at the Friendship Cup. They went on to win the John Ferreira tournament shortly after, and Island Championships with a victory over Cowichan Secondary in a very competitive game.

At the BC AAA Championship, a very solid performance from a young Cowichan Secondary team also represented Vancouver Island. They upset the 4th seed, Churchill, in pool play to top Pool D. A tough shoot out loss in their quarter final to Heritage Woods meant an ‘all Island’ final was no longer possible. They had a very tight game against Kelowna for fifth place, losing 1-0. Coaches Ashton Aumen, Caitlin Erickson, Perri Espeseth and manager, Karen Birch, are to be congratulated on their teams competitive play and improvement throughout the season.

Congratulations to all the players and coaches for their performance and for representing Vancouver Island so well.

Photo: Oak Bay. Captains Bronte Thurbide, Maryn Unger and Maddie Hunter

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The St. Michael’s University School senior girls field hockey team capped off a banner season with an exciting first-placed finish finish at the AA BC championships, hosted by SMUS at UVic from November 2-4. This is the first time since the 1990s that the the SMUS senior girls team brought home the provincial title.

In the provincial championship, there were comfortable wins against Keremeos, Southridge and York House in pool play, followed by a hard-fought quarter final win, 2-0, over Windsor with goals from Amanda Adams (Lynx) and Mia Muller (Lynx). This set up a repeat match against York House, who upset Crofton in another quarter-final. The SMUS team decisively beat York House 3-0 in the semifinal with two penalty strokes finished by Eva Cuddihy and an empty net goal for Kendyll Adams. This was sweet revenge against York House who had beaten SMUS the previous year.

The final against Little Flower Academy was a game of two halves with SMUS dominating in the first half, but not finishing many attacks, and LFA coming back strongly in the second half and opening the scoring with a well-taken penalty corner goal. With time almost running out, a breakaway into the LFA end saw Eva Cuddihy score over the goalie with 90 seconds remaining. With the game tied at 1-1 each at the end of regular time, the always intense shootout was the deciding factor. Fortunately for SMUS, the calm finishes by Amanda Adams, Rebecca Stone and Allegra Nelson, plus three saves out of five from SMUS goalie Talia Pike, gave SMUS the 3-2 shootout victory. The large crowd in the stands and people watching the game on the livestream were relieved and excited!

Other notable finishes from local Victoria and South Vancouver Island teams in the 16 team AA BC championship tournament were Glenlyon Norfolk School (8th), Brentwood College (9th) and Shawnigan Lake School (10th).

The SMUS field hockey team has had its most successful season in the school’s history, winning 5 out of 6 available trophies (the 6th was a shootout loss to Crofton in the final of the Bridgman Cup), and showcasing high class field hockey, but also excellent camaraderie and sportsmanship as well. The tour to Germany in August helped create the foundations for the current amazing successful high school season, and the young athletes should be applauded for all their accomplishments this season. Congratulations to SMUS coaches Dave Kerr (Rebels) and Stef Sloboda.

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The University of Victoria field hockey team hosts York University for the 2022 U SPORTS Field Hockey Championship, set for Nov. 4-6 on the UVic Field Hockey Turf. Come cheer on the Vikes and catch Canada’s top women’s hockey right here in Victoria.

Catch the UVic Vikes hosting the York Lions in a best-of-three national championship series on Nov. 4 (4 pm), Nov. 5 (3 pm) and, if needed, Nov. 6 (3pm) at the UVic water-based pitch (Field 1).

Tickets are available at http://govikesgo.com/tickets and the games will be streamed live on CBC Gem or the CBC Sports App and website.

NEWS & NOTES
- The Vikes enter the tournament as the defending U SPORTS national champions, having won the last three national titles.
- UVic is also coming off their fourth-straight Canada West banner, besting UBC 5-1 and 4-0 in the final weekend series, Oct. 22-23, to finish the conference season with a 7-0-1 record.
- Victoria will face OUA champions York in the best-of-three series. The Lions hold a 7-2-1 conference record and 9-2-1 overall record this season.
-The Vikes and Lions last matched up at the U SPORTS championships Nov. 2-3, 2018. Victoria claimed their first McCrae Cup since 2008 with 2-1 and 3-1 wins in Toronto.
- Anna Mollenhauer earned Canada West Player of the Year honours for the second-straight season after scoring eight goals for the Vikes and doubling her 2021 season goal total (4). Mollenhauer was also named U SPORTS Player of the Year and becomes the first player to ever win the prestigious Liz Hoffman award three times.
- Chloe Langkammer and Nora Struchtrup lead the Vikes and all players in Canada West with nine goals on the year and were both recognized as Canada West All-Stars and U SPORTS All-Canadians
- Daya Shields and the Vikes’ defence have posted five shutouts in eight games this season.
- Maeve Connorton, Libby Hogg, Langkammer and Struchtrup garnered Canada West All-Star status this season, while head coach Lynne Beecroft was named the Canada West and U SPORTS coach of the year.