ELMIRA, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team fell just short of reaching the national title game. On Saturday (March 21) in a semifinal matchup at the 2026 U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championships in Elmira, Ontario, the Gryphons lost, 2-1, in overtime to the Quebec champion Concordia Stingers. With the teams tied at 1-1 after three periods of play, a 10 minute overtime period of 4-on-4 hockey would see great chances at both ends of the ice. Moments after Gryphons forward
Maeve Sutherland-Case hit the crossbar, the Concordia Stingers would find the game winner at the other end of the ice, with Émile Lussier scoring on a rebound to send the Stingers through to the national championship game on Sunday afternoon. Guelph will now play in the U SPORTS bronze medal game on Sunday at 11am versus the Atlantic champions in the University of New Brunswick (UNB) Reds. Concordia, meanwhile, will face the Montreal Carabins i in the gold medal game on Sunday afternoon.
The Ontario champion Gryphons got off to a great start in Saturday's national semifinal game, with fourth-year forward
Maeve Sutherland-Case opening the scoring with a goal at the 16:12 mark of the first period, assisted by Jayden Calder and
Brielle Caruso. For Sutherland-Case, an animal biology major at the University of Guelph who led the team with 13 goals during the regular season, it marked her third goal of the playoffs, giving Guelph an early 1-0 lead. Concordia, ranked No. 2 in the country and owners of a 22-2-0 record during the regular season, would tie things up late in the second period when Courtney Rice fired a shot off the crossbar and in to tie the game at 1-1. The third period would solve nothing, with Guelph generating several great scoring chances, but ultimately unable to Concordia goalie Jordyn Verbeek. The Stingers would end the game at the 5:42 mark of the 4-on-4 overtime period, with Gryphons goalie
Martina Fedel making one of her 28 saves on the night, only to see Émile Lussier score on the rebound to give Concordia the 2-1 win.
The Stingers will now play on Sunday afternoon, in search of their fifth national title in program history (last coming in 2023-24). The Gryphons, whose lone national title in program history came during the 2018-19 season, will now look to take home U SPORTS bronze medals. This marks Guelph's seventh trip to the national championship tournament in program history. A bronze medal on Sunday would mark Guelph's second-best finish at a national championship (next only to their national title in 2018-19). Puck drop on Sunday is set for 11am versus UNB and can be seen live online on CBC Sports digital platforms (CBC Gem and CBC's YouTube page).
