TORONTO - Brittany Seidler scored two goals in leading the third seed Guelph Gryphons to a 3-1 win over the No. 5 Western Mustangs in the bronze-medal match of the 2012 FHC-CIS women’s field hockey championship, Sunday morning at Varsity Centre.

The Mustangs turned heads all tournament long, picking up their first two wins at nationals and delivering the upset of the season by downing Guelph Saturday morning. CIS coach of the year Jeff Pacheco noted how proud he was of his team and their season.

“The girls fought their hardest and did huge things this year,” said Pacheco. “I’m very happy with us going in the right direction because it is very easy to give up and stop working hard, but you need to put the iron down and want to make those creases go away.”

With the win Guelph, secures their third consecutive bronze medal in their fifth straight appearance in that match on championship Sunday. The Gryphons have competed for a medal  in each of the last six seasons since earning a silver medal in 2007.

“It was all heart and desire and there was no way our kids were going to lose today,” said Gryphons head coach Michelle Turley. “I am thrilled for all of my senior players to be able to come away with another medal. Every year they have been on the team we have been at nationals.”

A native of Oliver, B.C., Seidler posted her tournament-leading fifth goal to open the scoring in the 12 minute of the game off a penalty corner for the Gryphons. Early in the second half the CIS player of the year would extend the lead to two with her second, the eventual game-winner, en route to player of the game honours.

“It’s always a team effort from our team. It starts with the back at our goalie, from the defence to the midfielders up to our forwards,” said Seidler. “I just finish and try to put the ball in the net. That’s my job.”

Rookie Daniela Jelec of Mississauga, Ont., finished off the scoring for Guelph, adding an insurance marker in the 57^th minute. Western’s lone goal came off the stick of Jessica Crawford of Oakville, Ont., when the second-year netted one in the 69^th minute.

SCORING SUMMARY
GUE: 1-2: 3
WES: 0-1: 1

First half
Brittany Seidler (5), 12^th
 
Second half
Brittany Seidler (6), 38^th
Daniela Jelec (1,) 57^th
Jessica Crawford (2), 69^th
 
Goaltenders
GUE: Kaye McLagan (W, 70:00, 1 GA, 3-2-0)
WES: Bethan Blackburn (L, 70:00, 3 GA, 2-3-0)
 
Players of the game
GUE: Brittany Seidler (Oliver, B.C.)
WES: Katie Feagan (Goderich, Ont.)
 

PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDING

 
1. UBC (Canada West champions)
2. Toronto (OUA champions)
3. Guelph (OUA finalists)
4. Victoria (Canada West second place)
5. Western (OUA bronze medallists)
 
STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS
 
Official championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/fh/index
 
Round-robin standings (after 10 of 10 games)
 
                        GP       W         L          T          GF       GA       PTS
1. UBC             4          3          0          1          13         2          10
2. Toronto         4          2          1          1          10         4          7
3. Guelph          4          2          2          0          9          9          6
4. Western        4          2          2          0          6          11         6
5. Victoria         4          0          4          0          1          13         0
 
NOTE: 3 points for a win and 1 point for a tie.
 
Thursday, Nov. 1
9:30 Game 1: UBC 1 Toronto 1
11:50 Game 2: Guelph 5 Victoria 0
15:30 Game 3: Toronto 6 Western 0
17:50 Game 4: UBC 4 vs. Victoria 0
 
Friday, Nov. 2
10:00 Game 5: Guelph 3 Toronto 2
12:20 Game 6: Western 3 Victoria 1
16:00 Game 7: UBC 5 Guelph 0
 
Saturday, Nov. 3
10:00 Game 8: Western 2 Guelph 1
12:20 Game 9: Toronto 1 vs. Victoria 0
16:00 Game 10: UBC 3 Western 1
 
Sunday, Nov. 4
10:00 Bronze medal: Guelph 3 vs Western 1
13:00 Championship final: Toronto vs UBC (CIS-SIC.tv webcast)