WATERLOO, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons field hockey team found themselves facing the Toronto Varsity Blues this afternoon in the OUA final. This is the second straight season these two teams matched up against each other for the provincial title. In the end, the Varsity Blues got the best of the Gryphons capturing the OUA gold with a 5-2 final. This is the Gryphons second straight OUA silver medal. The Championships were played at Warrior Field in Waterloo.
The Gryphons and Varsity Blues will advance to the CIS Championship hosted by Toronto from Thursday, November 1 to Sunday, November 4.
The championship match got off to a thrilling start with the Blues taking the early 1-0 lead in the third minute as Lauren Mansfield (North Vancouver, BC) let a blistering shot go from 15 feet out that eluded Guelph goalie Kaye McLagan (Mitchell, Ont.)??The Gryphons wasted little time responding as Allison Chute (Greenfield Park, Que.) would tip one in past Kathryn Williams (Burlington, Ont.) on the ensuing draw to even the score. The play was setup beautifully by forward Candice Hawksworth (Oakville, Ont.).
With the score even at one, the Blues took over midway through the second half with four goals in the span of 13 minutes to cruise to the victory.??Amanda Woodcroft (Waterloo, Ont.) opened the flood gates off of a short corner setup by Tegan Stairs (Kitchener, Ont.). The Blues would extend their lead to 3-1 as Rachel Fackoury (Maryhill, Ont.) finished off a perfect pass by Kelley Lusk (North Vancouver, B.C.). Toronto would continue their onslaught as Tegan Stairs would get in on the action following a tic-tac-toe play with her sister Emma (Kitchener, Ont.) to make it 4-1 in favour of the Blues. The Blues would add one more in the 66th minute by Alexandra Evanyshyn (Burlington, Ont.) before OUA player of the year Brittany Seidler (Oliver, B.C.) added her second of the tournament for Guelph, making it a 5-2 final in favour of the Blues.
Players of the game:
Toronto: Henriette Mansell?
Guelph: Erin Houle
The Gryphons are now off to the CIS Championships hosted by Toronto this year taking place from November 1-4. Championship seeding will take place later today.
