Last weekend the Dinos field hockey team made their way to Edmonton, to battle it out in their first tournament of the year. The Dinos entered as an underdog but came out with their heads high and a 2-1-1 record.
The Dinos now find themselves second in the conference.
“We played well all weekend and unlike in the past, we played four strong games,” said Head Coach Carl Dalton. “We played so consistent, and players like Liz Allan, Kelsey Barrie, Ashley Reaburn, Natalie Peterson helped lead the team by example.”
The strong showing by these players was evident as they worked hard to keep the 1-0 lead earned in the 61st minute by Stephanie Demoskoff, which resulted in a 1-0 win over the Pandas.
The University of Victoria was next and proved to be the toughest battle resulting in a 2-0 Dinos loss. This loss however did not take the fighting spirt out of the Dinos.
The University of British Columbia were expected to put up a tough fight and possibly steal another B.C. win over the Dinos. Calgary however, was ready and able to end the game in a 2-2 draw, thanks to goals by Stephanie Maxwell and Kelsey Barrie.
With confidence manifesting itself within each player, the Dinos were ready to draw first blood against the Bisons, and that they did. They went on to destroy Manitoba 11-0 later in the day leaving them looking like lost dogs chasing their tales.
“I felt Burgundy Biletski had a couple of errors in the first game but played hard and proved herself in the next three. She was one of the main reasons we did so well against UBC and the tough game we had with U of A.” said Dalton.
The Dinos have two more tournaments left. The first is held at the University of Victoria and the second at the University of British Columbia. Playing on the coast is always difficult for the Dinos no matter what sport, and if the field hockey team can win there it will be a huge accomplishment for the program.
If the Dinos can manage to stay on top of their game and remain second in the conference, we may well see these ladies on their way to an unexpected trip to Nationals.