CALGARY – The UBC Thunderbirds claimed a record 13th McCrae Cup title with a 3-1 win over the host Calgary Dinos Sunday afternoon to wrap up the 2011 FHC-CIS field hockey championship at Hawkings Field.

Tournament all-star Poonam Sandhu netted the game-winner for UBC, while fellow all-Star, CIS MVP and championship MVP Robyn Pendleton added an insurance marker with her fourth goal of the tournament to lock up the title for the T-Birds.

Her goal came in the final minutes of the contest to put the game away. With her side up 2-1, Pendleton carried the ball into space in the circle and wired a high shot past Calgary goalkeeper Steph Petrowitsch to dash any hopes of a Dinos comeback.

Sandhu's game-winner was the key goal of the match, however, coming on the 44th minute off a penalty corner after the Dinos had tied the game up just before the half.

The T-Birds got on the board first with a goal from Sara McManus in the ninth minute on a penalty corner. Her shot from the top of the circle had eyes for the far corner of the net, sneaking through traffic to put UBC up 1-0.

But the Dinos responded just before the half with a penalty corner goal of their own. After a great individual effort by Lindsay Koch to win the corner, Kaitlyn Longworth scored her tournament-leading sixth goal with a blast to the far corner.

"UBC is a very good team," said Calgary head coach Jenn Swagar. "We got some momentum with that late goal in the first half and we executed our game plan for maybe the first 10 minutes of the second, but there was a lull and we never got into the flow. They have some very experienced players, and that showed up today."

The T-Birds generated most of their chances off penalty corners. They totaled 11 penalty corners in the match, nine of which came in the first half. They also put 11 shots on goal compared to four for the Dinos.

Along with Sandhu and Pendleton, Abigail Raye was also named a tournament all-star for UBC. She missed the entire regular season with a broken rib and only saw game action in the CIS tournament.

Longworth, Carolina Romeo, and Serena Lockhart were Calgary's all-stars.

Bea Francisco made three good saves to earn her fifth win of the tournament in goal for the T-Birds. McManus was named player of the game for UBC, while Courtney Duggan earned the nod for Calgary.

Pendleton was named tournament MVP thanks to her four goals and countless impressive runs to pressure opposing teams and set up scoring chances.

It was a bittersweet ending to a spectacular year for the host Dinos, who welcomed the tournament to Calgary for the first time since 1994 and made their first appearance since 1997. The second-place finish in Canada West and the silver medal at the CIS championship were both best-ever finishes for the Dinos – a long way from the team that hadn't won a game in three years when Swagar took over the program in 2007.

"It's overwhelming, actually," said Swagar, who played for the Dinos from 1991-96. "It was our first-ever second place finish, and I'm so proud of what we were able to accomplish this season. Hopefully with the plan and foundation we have in place, it will be easier to get back to this level."

SCORING SUMMARY
UBC 1-2: 3
CGY: 1-0: 1
 
First half
UBC Sara McManus (1), 9th
CGY Kaitlin Longworth (6), 35th

Second half
UBC Poonam Sandhu (1), 44th
UBC Robyn Pendleton (4), 68th
 
Goaltenders
UBC: Bea Francisco (W, 70:00, 1 GA, 5-0)
CGY: Steph Petrowitsch (L, 70:00, 3 GA, 3-2)

Players of the game
UBC: Sara McManus
CGY: Courtney Duggan

CHAMPIONSHIP HONOURS

Championship MVP: Robyn Pendleton, UBC

R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award: UBC Thunderbirds

Championship All-Stars
Julianna Cormier, Alberta
Serena Lockhart, Calgary
Kaitlin Longworth, Calgary
Robyn Pendleton, UBC
Abigail Raye, UBC
Carolina Romeo, Calgary
Poonam Sandhu, UBC
Brittany Seidler, Guelph
Jacqueline Trautman, Alberta
Kaelan Watson, Toronto
Amanda Woodcroft, Toronto

Official championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/fh/index

PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDING

1. Toronto (OUA champions)
2. UBC (Canada West champions)
3. Calgary (Canada West second place)
4. Guelph (OUA finalists)
5. Alberta (Canada West third place)

STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS (All times local: Mountain Time)

Round-robin standings (FINAL)

        GP    W    L    T    GF    GA    PTS
1. UBC        4    4    0    0    10    3    12
2. Calgary    4    3    1    0    11    6    9
3. Toronto    4    2    2    0    5    6    6
4. Guelph    4    1    3    0    6    9    3
5. Alberta    4    0    4    0    2    10    0

NOTE: 3 points for a win and 1 point for a tie.

Thursday, Nov. 3
9:30 Round-Robin Game 1: UBC 2 Toronto 1
11:50 Round-Robin Game 2: Calgary 3 Guelph 2
15:30 Round-Robin Game 3: UBC 2 Alberta 0
17:50 Round-Robin Game 4: Toronto 2 Guelph 1

Friday, Nov. 4
12:20 Round-Robin Game 5: UBC 4 Calgary 2
14:20 Round-Robin Game 6: Guelph 3 Alberta 2
18:00 Round-Robin Game 7: Calgary 3 Toronto 0

Saturday, Nov. 5
10:00 Round-Robin Game 8: Calgary 3 Alberta 0
12:20 Round-Robin Game 9: UBC 2 Guelph 0
16:00 Round-Robin Game 10: Toronto 2 Alberta 0

Sunday, Nov. 6
10:00 Bronze medal: Guelph 3 Toronto 0
13:00 Championship final: UBC 3 Calgary 1

About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty-two universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca.

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