After defeating the Western Mustangs 3-1 in the OUA bronze medal match, the Warriors have qualified for the CIS National Championships. The tournament will be hosted by the Guelph Gryphons starting this week (November 4-7).
The Warriors opened the OUA field hockey championships with a 3-0 victory of the Atlantic division champions, Dalhousie Tigers in the quarter-finals. Jaimie Wey (Kitchener, Ont.), Jessana Wartman (Cambridge, Ont.) and OUA all-star Kara Moro (Port Moody, B.C.) scored second half goals to lead the Warriors to a big win setting up the OUA semifinals with the Toronto Varsity Blues.
Goalkeeper Angee Blonk was solid in net as were the rest of the defensive unit, especially Winnie Huynh (Mississauga, Ont.), who was named Waterloo's player of the game, while Alex Turriff (Vancouver, B.C.) was given the honour for Dalhousie.
In the semifinal game on Saturday, the young energetic Waterloo team did a tremendous job of pressuring the Toronto Varsity Blues and were able to dictate play for most of the game. However, the Blues would get the best of the Warriors blanking the black and gold 2-0 as Toronto punched their ticket to the CIS Championships with the victory.
Special mention goes to Meghan Bester (Waterloo, Ont.) for her endless running which forced numerous rushed plays and errors by U of T, Bronwen Clayfield-Jewett (Waterloo, Ont.) for some outstanding goaltending, and Katherine Farrugia (Burlington, Ont.), who received player of the game honours for not only marshalling the defense but being an offensive threat too. Toronto would face Guelph in the OUA championships on Sunday and lose a close 3-2 battle.
With the loss the Warriors were scheduled to meet Western in the OUA bronze medal match and knew that with Guelph's automatic berth in the CIS National Championships as hosts, an additional spot was up for grabs with a win over the Mustangs.
The Warriors struck first with a goal by Jaimie Wey (Kitchener/) in the 14th minute. Wey added her second of the game just before halftime off a corner and the Warriors led 2-0 at the break.
Western narrowed the gap to one when Megan Scraper (West Vancouver, B.C.) scored on a penalty stroke early in the second half. However, the Warriors recaptured a two-goal advantage just two minutes later thanks to an action goal by Melissa Lewis (Waterloo, Ont.).
Both goalies stood tall after that until the end of the game and in addition to Katelyn Murray (New Hamburg/) and Jessica Lawson (Puslinch/), who have been playing strong defense all season long, Winnie Huynh (Mississauga/) once again had an outstanding match to earn player of the game honours with Megan Scraper being chosen for the award from Western.
Guelph, Toronto and Waterloo will participate in the CIS Women's Field Hockey Championship beginning on Thursday (Nov. 4) in Guelph with the first round robin games. Joining them at the event are the Canada West champion UBC Thunderbirds and the Victoria Vikes.
CIS CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Wednesday, Nov. 3
19:00 All-Canadian Awards Banquet (Holiday Inn Guelph Hotel & Convention Centre)
Thursday, Nov. 4
9:30 Round-Robin 1: Guelph vs. UBC
11:50 Round-Robin 2: Toronto vs. Victoria
15:30 Round-Robin 3: UBC vs. Waterloo
17:50 Round-Robin 4: Guelph vs. Victoria
Friday, Nov. 5
10:00 Round-Robin 5: Toronto vs. UBC
12:20 Round-Robin 6: Victoria vs. Waterloo
16:00 Round-Robin 7: Guelph vs. Toronto
Saturday, Nov. 6
10:00 Round-Robin 8: Toronto vs. Waterloo
12:20 Round-Robin 9: UBC vs. Victoria
16:00 Round-Robin 10: Guelph vs. Waterloo
17:30 Tie-Breaking Strokes (if necessary)
Sunday, Nov. 7
10:00 Bronze medal
13:00 Championship final
