Guelph, ON – Sports are full of clichés.
Give it 110%. Take it one game at a time.
Block out the crowd noise. Stay in the moment.All of these clichés will certainly ring with truth when both the Gryphons men's and women's hockey teams take the ice on Saturday (March 7
th) to compete for conference titles. The Gryphons women's team will be in London facing the Western Mustangs at 4pm. The men play host to UQTR (L'Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières) at 7:30pm. But whether or not they are aware of it, while each Gryphon team is busy
staying in the moment and focusing solely on their own tasks at hand, the two teams combined actually sit on the brink of making OUA history; if both Gryphon teams were to win on Saturday, they would become just the fifth program in OUA history (and the first in over 20 years) to capture both the men's and women's OUA hockey titles in the same season.
SCHOOLS TO WIN
BOTH MEN'S & WOMEN'S OUA HOCKEY TITLES
IN THE SAME YEAR:
1981-82 – Toronto
1983-84 – Toronto
1986-87 – York
1992-93 – Toronto
Women's Hockey OUA Championship: The Judy McCaw Memorial Cup
Guelph versus Western – Satruday, March 7th – 4pm (Thompson Arena – London, ON)
When the Gryphons travel to London on Saturday, they will be looking to end a 17-year drought since their last OUA title (1998), while the Mustangs are in search of their first OUA crown in program history. Expect goals to be hard to come by as two of the top goalies in the OUA square off in
Stephanie Nehring for Guelph and
Kelly Campbell for Western. Those two names were at the top of nearly every major statistical category for goalies during the regular season with Nehring leading the league with a 1.18 Goals-Against Average and a .824 Winning Percentage (Campbell in second in each at 1.23 and .800 respectively); while Campbell led the OUA with a .954 Save Percentage (with Nehring close behind at .947).
Aside from boasting one of the top goalies in the conference, the Western Mustangs also pose a threat to Guelph because of their ability to generate offence from their blueline. Western's three-time OUA All-Star
defencemen Katelyn Gosling finished third on her team in points (four goals, 11 assists, 15 points). Fellow defencemen Brianna Iazzolino, a Second Team OUA All-Star this season, finished second on the Mustangs in goals (seven) and points (16) respectively. Up front for Western, OUA First Team All-Star Kendra Broad did most of her damage on the power play, scoring eight of her 15 goals on the man advantage. Her eight power play goals lead the OUA.
During the regular season, the Gryphons lost a total of three games in regulation; two of those came to the Western Mustangs who beat Guelph 4-1 in London on November 22
nd and 3-1 on February 7
th at the Gryphon Centre. These two teams finished in the top two in the OUA standings during the regular season as Western finished in 1
st with a 20-1-3 record, while Guelph finished in 2
nd with an 18-3-3 record.
How They Got Here
Western
OUA Quarter-finals: (1) Western vs (8) Nipissing ---
Western won series 2-0
OUA Semi-finals: (1) Western vs (6) Laurier ---
Western won series 2-0
Guelph
OUA Quarter-finals: (2) Guelph vs (7) Ryerson ---
Guelph won series 2-0
OUA Semi-finals: (2) Guelph vs (4) Toronto ---
Guelph won series 2-1
Note: Both Western and Guelph have qualified for the CIS Championships next week (March 12-15) in Calgary.
Men's Hockey OUA Championship: The 104th Queen's Cup
Guelph versus UQTR – Satruday, March 7th – 7:30pm (Gryphon Centre – Guelph, ON)
The Gryphons men's hockey team will be facing a similar challenge as the women's, as their opponent in the OUA Final is also one that is dangerous on the power play. In Guelph's only meeting with UQTR this season, a pair of third period goals by the Patriotes helped to lift UQTR to a 6-2 win. The Patriotes feature a pair of OUA East Division All-Stars up front in Bill Lacasse and Marc-Olivier Mimar, while goalie Francis Desrosiers was also named an East Division Second Team All-Star.
The Gryphons, fresh off eliminating the defending OUA champion Windsor Lancers, will need to get past another perennial power in the conference if they are to capture their first OUA banner since 1997. Since joining the OUA in the 1987-88 season, UQTR has gone on to win a total of nine OUA titles, including as recently as 2012-2013, while also going on to capture three national titles (1991, 2001 & 2003). The good news for Guelph is that this is a one-game, stand-alone championship game, and the Gryphons have been outstanding this season with their backs against the wall. Down the stretch in the regular season, the Gryphons were essentially in playoff mode, needing to string together wins just to qualify for the postseason. A wild 6-5 double overtime win over Lakehead in Thunder Bay on January 31
st was perhaps the Gryphons biggest win of the regular season. That victory halted a mini two-game skid and was followed by two more wins to give the Gryphons a little momentum along with a spot in the playoffs. During their incredible playoff run, the Gryphons have twice found themselves in elimination games on the road, and have both times come away with Game 3 victories over Waterloo and Toronto.
Guelph Captain Dan Broussard talks with UQTR's Tommy Tremblay during a stoppage
in play in their regular season matchup on November 21, 2014 (UQTR won the game 6-2)
How They Got Here
UQTR
OUA East Quarter-finals: (3) UQTR vs (6) Nipissing --- UQTR
won series 2-0
OUA East Semi-finals: (3) UQTR vs (2) Carleton --- UQTR
won series 2-0
OUA East Finals: (3) UQTR vs (1) McGill --- UQTR
won series 2-0
Guelph
OUA West Quarter-finals: (6) Guelph vs (3) Waterloo ---
Guelph won series 2-1
OUA West Semi-finals: (6) Guelph vs (5) Toronto ---
Guelph won series 2-1
OUA West Finals: (6) Guelph vs (1) Windsor ---
Guelph won series 2-0
With a big crowd expected at the Gryphon Centre on Saturday night, in what is the first Queen's Cup since 1994 to be hosted on Guelph's campus, there will be a lot of pressure on this young Gryphons team. Fortunately, there are some time-tested, proven rules to go by that should help guide them through Saturday night's anticipated matchup:
Give it 110%. Take it one game at a time.
Block out the crowd noise.
* Both Guelph and UQTR have qualified for the CIS Championships next week (March 12-15) in Halifax
Note: Tickets for Saturday's Queen's Cup are on sale now (gryphons.ca/tickets). The game will also be broadcast live on Rogers TV Cable 20 in Guelph, Waterloo Region, Stratford and Brantford. The game can also be seen live online at OUA.tv
The Women's OUA Championship game on Saturday at 4pm can also be seen live on OUA.tv
