GUELPH, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team is moving on to the OUA semifinals. On Sunday night (March 1) at the Gryphon Centre Arena, the Gryphons outlasted the Waterloo Warriors in a triple overtime marathon, with Gryphons fifth-year blueliner,
Teghan MacRae, scoring the game-winner at the 15:27 mark of the third overtime period. MacRae's shot from the point sailed past Waterloo goalie Kara Mark and into the top corner of the net to give the Gryphons a 3-2 win on the night, and a 2-games-to-1 series victory over the Warriors in the best-of-three OUA quarterfinal series. The Gryphons will now await the winner of the Queen's Gaels and Ontario Tech Ridgebacks for their OUA semifinal series.
Just getting to overtime on Sunday night was the first challenge for the Gryphons, who found themselves trailing 2-1 from the late 2nd period on. But with just over four minutes remaining in the 3rd period, the Gryphons would keep their season alive on a goal from another fifth-year defender, as
Arielle MacDonald's shot found its way through a screen and into the net to tie the game at 2-2. The score would remain deadlocked at 2-2 for the next 50-plus minutes of action, with both the 1st and 2nd overtime periods of five-on-five hockey solving nothing. The potential of a fourth overtime period was looming before MacRae's perfectly placed shot ended the series, and kept the Gryphons season alive for another round. Gryphons fifth-year goalie,
Martina Fedel, who recently returned from the Winter Olympics where she represented Italy, turned away 45 of the 47 shots sent her way on the afternoon-turned-evening, with the game running just under four hours in total.
Gryphons Captain,
Katherine Heard, opened the scoring in Game 3, with a goal midway through the 1st period to put Guelph up 1-0. The lead would not last long, however, as the Warriors answered just over three minutes later on a short-handed goal from Keiara Raitt. Waterloo would take the lead late in the 2nd period on a nice goal from Nikki McDonald which put the Warriors in front 2-1. But the Gryphons season would be saved thanks to a pair of goals from fifth-year defenders
Arielle MacDonald and
Teghan MacRae. Despite the loss, the Waterloo Warriors season has not yet come to a close, as the University of Waterloo will receive an automatic bid to nationals as hosts of the U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championships for a second consecutive season. This year's nationals will take place from March 19-22 at the Woolwich Memorial Centre in Elmira. The Gryphons will need to win their next series in order to make it to nationals, with Ontario sending three teams total (Waterloo, plus the two teams meeting in the McCaw Cup Championship game). The Gryphons will find out late on Sunday night who their opponent in the next round is, with Queen's and Ontario Tech set to drop the puck at 8pm in Kingston in Game 3 of their series.
