CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos women's field hockey team fell 1-0 to the University of Victoria Vikes on Sunday at Hawkings Field despite a strong push in the final minutes.

The loss drops Calgary to 0-2 on the season, while Victoria improves to 2-0.

"Victoria came out to compete, and we were a little slow in the first half, but Madison Forest, our goalie, played phenomenally and kept us in it," said Dinos head coach Jenn Wishart. "By the second half we caught up to momentum and started playing our game."

Victoria dominated possession for long stretches in the first quarter, but Forest kept the Dinos within reach from the opening minutes, making a diving cross-crease stop early and following with a strong one-on-one save against the Vikes in the seventh minute.

"Everyone did their jobs and got what they needed done," said Forest. "It's nice to be able to give them extra eyes from the back because I can really see the whole field from my viewpoint. Just to be able to be some eyes behind them and let them know where players are and use my voice to contribute that way."

The Vikes continued to control the run of play in the second quarter, but a shot that rang off the post in the final seconds of the half kept the game scoreless after 30 minutes.

Victoria finally broke through three minutes into the third quarter when Ava Winter converted a penalty stroke that Forest got a piece of but couldn't keep out. Calgary answered with a solid look of its own later in the quarter but couldn't finish, while the Dinos' defence broke up a promising Victoria chance in the final minute to keep it a one-goal game.

The fourth quarter settled into a tight battle with few scoring chances for either side and turned physical late as Victoria's Amanda Adams picked up a green card and then a yellow card in the final 12 minutes, leaving the Vikes to protect their lead a player down. Calgary nearly capitalized, but Victoria goalkeeper Anais Chace came up with a game-winning save with 1:30 remaining, stopping Dinos forward Maia McGillivray on a penalty stroke to preserve the 1-0 final.

"This league is competitive so it'll be awesome to play them," Wishart said of the Dinos' next opponent. "We'll be working more on our attack and just sharpening up our defence a bit more."

Added Forest, "We're just going to keep doing what we've been doing, keeping up the intensity in practice and locking down a few concepts, but I feel like we're at a good point and hopefully we'll come back even stronger for UBC."

The Dinos will return to action Saturday, Sept. 19 and Sunday, Sept. 20 when they host the UBC Thunderbirds at Hawkings Field.

Victoria, meanwhile, will use its bye week before returning to action Saturday, Sept. 26 and Sunday, Sept. 27 against the UBC Thunderbirds.

SCORING SUMMARY
VIC - Ava Winter, PS, 33', 1-0 VIC

GOALKEEPERS
VIC - Anais Chace, 60MP, 0GA
CGY - Madison Forest, 60MP, 1GA

CARDS
CGY - Mandy McIntosh, GC, 20'
VIC - Amanda Adams, GC, 48'
CGY - Hannah Doman, GC, 56'
VIC - Amanda Adams, YC, 58'

-UC-