The battle for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) national women’s soccer title starts today in Victoria, BC and the Tigers have been eagerly anticipating this weekend all season.
For the second year in a row Dalhousie remained the number one team in the AUS after victories over UPEI (semifinal match) and CBU (final match) last weekend. Led by AUS MVP Rieka Santilli, the black and gold completed their regular season in second place with 10 wins, two losses and one tie.
This weekend the Tigers are planning to play their best games yet and continue their 10-game winning streak. Other teams that have qualified for the championship contest include the host Victoria Vikes (Canada West finalists), Trinity Western Spartans (Canada West champions), Sherbrooke Vert & Or (RSEQ champs), Ottawa Gee-Gees (OUA champs), Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (OUA finalists), and Cape Breton Capers (AUS finalists). At last year’s championship Dalhousie had a tough start, falling 3-2 to Ottawa in the quarter-final. This year’s quarter-final match for the Tigers will be challenging as they face the Queen’s Gaels, the CIS defending champions, at 5:30 AST this afternoon.
On Wednesday night the CIS named Tigers midfielder Santilli a CIS first team all-Canadian and Dalhousie striker Emma Landry a CIS second team all-Canadian. Both athletes were essential in their team’s success this year. Santilli scored six goals for Dal and Landry netted two, adding to their team’s AUS-leading total of 31 goals scored in the regular season.
Details on all the CIS award winners can be found on the CIS website and fans hoping to catch some of the action will be able to watch games live online at CIS-SIC.tv.
2012 CIS Championship Schedule (AST)
Thursday, Nov. 8
3:00 Quarter-final 1: Ottawa vs. Cape Breton
5:30 Quarter-final 2: Dalhousie vs. Queen’s
8:30 Quarter-final 3: Trinity Western vs. Wilfrid Laurier
11:00 Quarter-final 4: Sherbrooke vs. Victoria
Friday, Nov. 9
3:00 Consolation 1: Loser QF 1 vs. Loser QF 2
5:30 Consolation 2: Loser QF 3 vs. Loser QF 4
8:30 Semifinal 1: Winner QF 1 vs. Winner QF 2
11:00 Semifinal 2: Winner QF 3 vs. Winner QF 4
Saturday, Nov. 10
6:30 5th place game
Sunday, Nov. 11
3:30 Bronze medal
6:00 Championship final