VICTORIA (CIS) – The University of Victoria Vikes battled through 90 minutes of scoreless play before going perfect on all four kicks from the penalty spot to earn a 1-0 bronze-medal victory over the Ottawa Gee-Gees at the CIS women’s soccer championship, Sunday afternoon at Centennial Stadium.

Fifth-year keeper Stephanie Parker made the save on Ottawa’s first kick from Christine Hardie and Vikes Emma Greig, Lindsay Hoetzel, Jackie Harrison and Jaclyn Sawicki made no mistake on their attempts to give tournament host Victoria the victory on home turf.

Ottawa’s second shooter, Krista Draycott, sent the ball over the net. Chelsea Lanos, who went third for the Gee-Gees, was the only one to beat Parker in the PK session.

It marks the first CIS medal for the Vikes since they captured their only national title in 2005. Victoria beat Sherbrooke 2-1 in Thursday’s opening round before falling 1-0 to Trinity Western in Friday’s semifinals.

The Gee-Gees, who entered the tourney with a 17-0-2 record in OUA regular season and playoff action, defeated Cape Breton 3-1 on Thursday but were stunned 4-1 by Queen’s in the semis.

“It’s nice to have a win in front of a home crowd,” said Vikes head coach Tracy David. “It’s nice to have a bronze medal if we aren’t going to win gold. Credit to Ottawa, it was a tough game and I thought we started slow but the last 15 minutes were our best in the tournament.”

Both teams played through a defensive deadlock for the opening 45 minutes of game. Fifth-year defender Gillian Baggott, the CIS player of the year from Ottawa, and second-year Amy Lawrence, for the Vikes, were the noticeable factors in their respective ends.

The Gee-Gees’ lone chance came in the 39^th minute when a long ball into the box was deflected off the head of Vikes defender Bijou Leavins but into the hands of Parker.

Fifth-year Vike Tessa Margetts had the only other scoring chance of the half moments later. Ottawa keeper Cynthia Leblanc made the initial grab but the fumbled the ball, which fell to the feet of Margetts. Margetts made efforts to connect but the Gee-Gees did well to clear the ball leaving the game scoreless at the break.

The stalemate continued in the second half with both teams making several tactical substitutions to increase the tempo. The end-to-end opportunities finally revealed themselves in the remaining 15 minutes of the game as kicks from the penalty spot loomed.

In the 75^th minute, Baggott pushed forward and had a chance to put the Gee-Gees up but her header off a Vanessa MacMillan cross went wide.

The Vikes poured on the pressure with six minutes left and Nathalie Scharf connected on a header in the box off a Sarah Douglas cross but her attempt fired wide of the goal.

At the other end, Lanos and Julia Francki each had shots fly past the goalmouth in the 87^th minute off corner kicks.

In an exciting final few minutes, the Vikes had three glorious opportunities, including a direct kick from just outside the box, but Leblanc was on alert, sending both teams to kicks, for the first time in the tournament.

“We are disappointed to finish a wonderful season with two losses,” said Ottawa head coach Steve Johnson, who will graduate Baggott. “Gillian was a standout performer for us all year. Her leadership was a great part of why we did have a great season.”

SCORING SUMMARY
VIC: 0-0: 1 (4-1 kicks)
OTT: 0-0: 0

First half
(no scoring)

Second half
(no scoring)

Kicks from penalty mark

VIC Emma Greig, goal
OTT Christine Hardie, no goal (saved)
VIC Lindsay Hoetzel, goal
OTT Krista Draycott, no goal (missed)
VIC Jackie Harrison, goal
OTT Chelsea Lanos, goal
VIC Jaclyn Sawicki, goal

Goalkeepers:
VIC: Stephanie Parker (W, 0 GA, 2 saves, 90:00, 2-1)
OTT: Cynthia Leblanc (L, 0 GA, 6 saves, 90:00, 1-2)

Team stats
Shots: VIC 18, OTT 11
Shots on net: VIC 6, OTT 2
Corners: VIC 5, OTT 4
Offsides: VIC 0, OTT 0
Fouls: VIC 10, OTT 13
Yellow cards: OTT (Christine Hardie)
Red cards: none

Players of the game:
VIC: Amy Lawrence
OTT: Gillian Baggott