TORONTO, Ont. – The OUA women's hockey playoffs are here. And the Guelph Gryphons and Toronto Varsity Blues delivered a classic playoff performance in the opening game of their OUA quarter-final series. Wednesday night at Varsity Arena in Toronto, the defending OUA and U SPORTS champion Gryphons fell just short of stealing Game 1 of their best-of-three series versus U of T, falling 3-2 in overtime.
 
For Gabrielle De Serres, a third-year defender on the Varsity Blues, her second goal of the game would prove to be the game-winner, as her shot from just inside the blueline with 2:58 remaining in the first overtime period would find the back of the net to give the OUA's top seed a 1-0 series lead. The series will now shift back to Guelph for Game 2 on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 22 – 2pm).
 
Despite entering the playoffs as the conference's 8th and final playoff seed, the Gryphons arrived at Varsity Arena with plenty of confidence, having secured four out of a possible six points during their two regular season meetings with the No. 3-nationally ranked Varsity Blues. On Wednesday night, the Gryphons proved yet again to be a tough matchup for their rivals from Toronto, erasing a two-goal, first-period deficit to force OT.
 
Trailing 2-0 in the opening period, the Gryphons would respond with a power play goal from second-year forward Lauren Ianni. The Markham native would score on a Gryphon 5-on-3 power play opportunity, roofing a sharp-angled shot past U of T goalie Erica Fryer to trim the Guelph deficit to 2-1. Midway through the 2nd period, the Gryphons would tie it up at 2-2 after Stephanie Gava would win a foot race down the ice to get on the end of a stretch pass, before firing home a quick shot glove-side past Fryer to get the Gryphons back to level ground.
 
U of G's fourth-year goalie Aurore Beaulieu came up with perhaps the best performance of her Gryphon career, making 44 saves on the night to keep her team's hopes alive of heading back home with a 1-0 lead in the series. With 60 minutes not producing a winner, the Gryphons and Blues would head to overtime, where the hosts would ultimately find the winner, with De Serres beating a screened Beaulieu to seal the win for the OUA's top seed. The Varsity Blues finished the night with 47 shots, compared to 31 for Guelph. The Gryphon penalty kill unit was perfect, killing off all eight U of T power play chances, with Guelph going 1-for-4 themselves on the power play.
 
The series will now shift back to Guelph for Game 2, with the Gryphons set to host the Varsity Blues for a Saturday afternoon matchup at the Gryphon Centre. Puck drop is scheduled for 2pm with the game broadcast live online at OUA.tv.