Queen’s women’s field hockey team got off to an excellent start at the University of Toronto Invitational tournament over the weekend. In its first test of the season, the women’s team went undefeated in a tournament that pitted it against competitive squads from Toronto, Carleton and Waterloo.
In the four games played at the Invitational, Queen’s won two and tied the remaining two through a combination of stellar defence and quality goaltending. The team opened the tournament Saturday by dispatching Carleton in a 2-0 victory. The team came out strong and dominated play from the start, preventing Carleton from registering a single shot on goal in the entire game, said head coach Chris McArdle.
Veterans Krista Huszarik and Kirsten Jewell scored for Queen’s, while keeper Kaylee Milne recorded the shutout.
The team took on the tough University of Waterloo squad in its second game of the day, pulling off a 1-0 win despite a rough first half. Rookie Janette Leroux scored the lone goal in the second half after a refocused Queen’s team took to the turf.
“We didn’t play quite as well in the first half but we really came back strong in the game,” McArdle said. “The defence had quite a strong game, and they held firm for the win.”
Sunday saw the team earn two ties, the first coming against York University. Despite emerging from the first half with a 1-0 lead on a goal by Hilary Piets, McArdle said the players were unable to keep up their pace in the second half, and relinquished a goal with a few minutes left to end the game in a tie.
In their final game of the tournament, an energetic Queen’s team used their fast-paced, attacking style to keep the Toronto-based Phoenix Field Hockey Club team on their toes. Meghan Davey scored a goal in the first half to give Queen’s the lead, which held up until the Phoenix Club managed to score an equalizing goal in the second half.
Despite having numerous offensive chances, McArdle said the players were unable to capitalize, and ended the tournament with a 2-0-2 record.
The strong tournament performance capped off a successful fall training camp, which saw the core of the team return and five rookies join the group.
“It was a high-quality turnout this year,” McArdle said. “The last couple of selections for the squad were pretty hard to make.”
In his first year as head coach but second with the team, McArdle has much praise for his group.
“We’ve got a very fast team with a lot of pace, and we’re looking to exploit that to our advantage this year to go after some of the other teams,” McArdle explained. “We have a really strong defence and goalkeeping group, and I think teams are going to have a hard time scoring against us. If we can get on a run and start scoring some goals, we’re going to be a hard team to beat.”
There are high expectations for the women’s field hockey team, which finished fourth in the OUA standings last season with a 5-7-4 record.
“The goal is to qualify for nationals this year. The two teams that make the finals in the OUA qualify for nationals and last year we lost in the semi-finals to Toronto,” McArdle said. “As coaches, we think it’s a realistic goal for the year, and we have a good enough team so we can.” With its first tournament and training camp under their belts, the team is ready to start the regular season battle for the OUA title. Its first test will be against the powerhouse University of Toronto team (last year’s OUA champions) on Sept. 17 in Waterloo.
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