When it comes to playing the UVic Vikes men, the Vancouver Island Field Hockey Association competitive division-leading Tigers are fit to be tied.
Sunday (Jan. 15) on the turf at UVic, a significantly outnumbered Vikes team held the powerful Tigers to a second straight tie, this time 3-3.
Choosing to play with just six players and a goalkeeper rather than forfeit a win to Tigers and play a friendly match, the Vikes held their own and even shocked their opponent by jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the first quarter.
Jesse Kaloti scored twice to lead the Tigers’ attack, while Harbir Sidhu, a national teamer and former Tiger back home for the weekend, added a single. Finley O’Callaghan, Caelan Ostrosser and Simon Johns scored for Vikes.
Despite earning a single point and preventing Tigers (7-0-3) from widening the gap in the standings, the Vikes (3-3-3) were unable to gain ground on Rebels 1 (5-4-1), who edged Mutineers 4-3 in Sunday’s other competitive division match.
Michael Bryan and Gavin O’Halloran each scored twice in the win, which increased the Rebels’ margin in second to four points over UVic.
Stuart Wylie, Neil Barr and Iosvani Marrero found the net for Mutineers, who had recorded their first point of the season the week before in a 3-3 tie against Rebels.
The day began with Rebels 2 defeating Marauders 3-0, marking a return to recreational division action after the winter break.
Simon Lightbody bagged a pair of goals for the winners while Scotty Carnes added a single. Owen Dahl, not tested often by the Marauders’ attack, picked up the shutout in net.
While possession appeared fairly even between the teams, Rebels (3-2-0) capitalized on their opportunities better. The result left them atop the standings, while third-place Marauders fell to 1-3-1 heading into this month’s jamboree seven-a-side games on Jan. 22 starting at 10:30 a.m.
Later games this coming weekend see Mutineers take on Vikes at noon, followed by Tigers vs. Rebels 1 at 1:30 p.m.

The Victoria Junior Field Hockey Association (VJFHA) are hosting their annual open session for all new youth players to come try the game for free!

How you can help:
(1) Let your friends, family, neighbours or other community members know!
(2) Volunteer at the session as a coach

Who: Youth players aged 5-18 (no experience necessary)
Date: Sunday, February 5, 2023
Time: 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Location: UVic Field 3 (rubber-based)
Please check in at 12:50 p.m. to get sized for a stick and be put in your correct age groups.

If your child is between the age of 5-18, and would like to try a new sport for FREE we look forward to seeing you. Please feel free to bring a friend but we encourage registration per participant to help with planning. Current players are welcome, too, but this session is geared at growing the game.

Please bring shin pads and mouth guards if you have them. No cleats. Sticks, balls, coaching and fun will be provided.

Online registration is required at: http://victoriajuniorfieldhockey.ca/forms/24747-COME-TRY-IT-FREE-DAY-SUNDAY-FEBRUARY-5-2023

Registration for the event closes on February 1, 2023.

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If you are interested and available to coach at the session (practice plan provided), please sign up at: https://forms.gle/MNiQXMjkoBkzSahd6

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The 2023 VJFHA Season runs April 11 to June 25, 2023. Registration for the league opens on Monday, February 13 at 7:00 am.
For detailed schedules per age groups visit: http://vjfha.victoriajuniorfieldhockey.ca/clubs/393/pages/6257

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For questions please reach out to info@victoriajuniorfieldhockey.ca

A pair of players with top-level international experience faced off at the University of Victoria as the Vancouver Island Field Hockey Association returned to play Sunday (Jan. 8).
Rebels 1’s Johnny Jacoby, a quality attacker in recent years for Canada’s junior men’s team, and the Mutineers’ Gordie Johnston, a veteran defender for this country’s senior nationals, were on opposite sides of the turf, anchoring competitive division teams looking to get back into game shape after the one-month holiday break.
Both players showed flashes of brilliance with breathtaking carries into the opposing half, with Johnston particularly executing pinpoint passes and well-timed scoops that relieved the pressure. Each got onto the scorecard in the 3-3 tie, with Johnston popping in two goals for Mutineers and Jacoby one for Rebels.
But it was defender Ben Wheatley who wielded the dagger for Rebels (4-4-1) in the game’s dying moments. Having raced to the goalmouth during a short corner play, he tipped a perfectly placed pass behind keeper Colby Gerber to salvage a point for the men in red.
Mutineers led for most of the well-played game, putting together what some considered their best overall outing of the season and earning their first point in eight starts.
Dash Nelson scored the other goal for Rebels while Iosvani Marrero also tallied for Mutineers.
The game was rescheduled from early November, when the U Sports women’s national championships was hosted (and won) by the UVic Vikes.
This weekend’s (Jan. 15) full slate of games opens with Rebels 2 taking on Marauders in a recreational division game at 10:30 a.m. That’s followed by a pair of competitive division contests, Tigers vs. UVic Vikes at noon and a rematch of Mutineers vs. Rebels at 1:30 p.m.
Tigers continue to hold a hammerlock on first, with seven wins and two ties, while yesterday’s tie gave Rebels a two-point margin on the Vikes (3-3-2) for second.

Heading into the final weekend of the fall season in Vancouver Island Field Hockey Association play, defending league and playoff champion Tigers continue to keep opponents at bay, remaining undefeated in eight starts.
But there are signs other teams are getting closer to solving the Tigers riddle.
On Sunday (Dec. 4) the champs scored a slim 4-3 win over Rebels 1 to bolster their lead atop the competitive division standings.
Josh Brown extended his goal-scoring streak to three games since returning to the Tigers roster in November, putting two shots past Rebels keeper Felix Randall to lead the attack. Brown now has five goals on the season.
The winners also got singles from Jesse Kaloti and Vardeep Gill. National program member Johnny Jacoby, making a rare appearance this season, notched a pair to lead Rebels, while Gavin O’Halloran scored once.
For Tigers (6-0-2), the win followed a rare 0-0 draw against UVic Vikes on Nov. 27.
The combination of the Rebels loss and the Vikes’ 4-1 victory over Mutineers pushed UVic (3-2-2) ahead of Rebels into second place.
Grant Simpson scored twice for the Vikes in the win, with singles contributed by Finlay O’Callaghan and Ralph Rietveld.
Mutineers, their depleted numbers boosted with the addition of four players from the club’s Marauders recreational team, were outrun by the young students for most of the game but did manage to score on a short corner when Mark Baggott put one past Colbey Geber.
This Sunday’s matches on the turf at UVic see Rebels 2 take on Hawks in the rec division at 10:30 a.m., followed by Rebels 1 vs. Vikes at noon and Tigers vs. Mutineers at 1:30 p.m.
– Don Descoteau

On the heels of a dramatic 2-1 win that clinched a fourth straight U SPORTS national women’s field hockey championship crown Saturday for the home turf UVic Vikes, the four Vancouver Island Field Hockey Association teams in action kept the drama going Sunday.
Javier Virk’s second goal of the game for Tigers came in the final minute and proved the difference in a 3-2 victory over the men’s Vikes in the day’s thrilling opener.
The defending competitive division champions, who improved to 3-0-1 with the win, never trailed in the contest.
A long lead pass to a waiting Virk deep in Vikes territory saw the sniper convert a breakaway to make it 1-0 in the opening quarter.
The Vikes responded well, pushing for the equalizer almost immediately. It took until the second quarter for their efforts to pay off, however.
Vikes’ Ralph Rietveld carried into the D and created enough space for himself to let go with a back stick shot that sailed over the shoulder of Tigers keeper Tom Pennells and into the top corner.
After the Tigers’ Jesse Kaloti popped home a rebound on a short corner in the third quarter, Rietveld tied it up again on a tip-in.
The Vikes pressed hard as the rain intensified through the fourth quarter, but it was the Tigers who notched the winner barely ahead of the final whistle.
UVic dropped to 1-2-1 with the loss.
Culminating the well-played recreational division game that followed, Marauders’ Brayden Chatlain notched the 2-2 goal on the final play against Hawks, giving his team its first point of the season.
Goals by Bobby Virk and Rajiv Dillon had given Hawks a 2-1 lead in their first non-jamboree game, after Thomas White opened scoring with a shot from the top of the D for Marauders in the first half.
The Nov. 13 schedule sees another two-game card, with Rebels 2 playing Hawks in the rec opener at 10:30 a.m., and Rebels 1 taking on Tigers in the competition division match at noon.