Even before heading out on the road, the Warriors Field Hockey Team picked up 3 points when they were informed Queen's had forfeited their weekend fixtures. This meant that a defeat of Toronto would move the Warriors into first place overall in the OUA.
 
The players were focused and determined to start strong but the Varsity Blues beat the Warriors to the punch and put the team on their heels. The sustained pressure resulted in a break-down in communication at the eight minute mark when a Toronto midfielder was able to enter the scoring circle uncontested. While the initial shot was saved, the rebound was put home it was 1-0 for the defending OUA champions.
 
The Warriors tried to battle back but were in disarray and ended up conceding a penalty stroke less than five minutes later. However, rookie netminder, Hilary Neeb (Wellesley/) stood her ground and came up big, saving the shot with her head. This energized the rest of the team and seemed to turn things around. Everyone picked up their game and began playing better defensively and Toronto didn't have any further opportunities.
 
As the second half started, the crowd anticipated some excitement and were not disappointed as both teams produced nice passing sequences as well as showed tough physical defense. Team captain, Ainsley Bearinger (Mannheim/), was all over the field and inspiring others to follow.

The forward line of Melissa Lewis (Waterloo/), Courtney Bisch (Wellesley/), Alana Raymond (Ajax/), Caitlin Huber (Waterloo/), and Liz Smith was causing havoc for Toronto's defense while Katie Farrugia (Burlington/), Stephanie Snyder (Waterloo/), Ally Kocukov and Lauren Aitchison (Oxshott/), were solid in the middle of the field. Not to be outdone, the Waterloo defenders did a tremendous job of marking out Toronto's forwards; Katelyn Murray (New Hamburg/)., Winnie Huynh (Mississauga/), and Danny Wade were rock solid walls. Everyone was elevating their game.
 
Waterloo continued to control the match through until the 63^rd minute when Toronto won a penalty corner against the run of play and capitalized to take a 2-0 lead. Despite the score line Waterloo continued their offensive push which resulted in a beautiful goal by Courtney Bisch (Wellesley/) who fired the ball into the top left corner.

Down 2-1 with only minutes to play, head coach Steven Rodrigues pulled the goalie and threw on an extra attacker in search of the equalizer. Toronto were desperate to hold onto the victory and this resulted in some very harsh tackles, allowing Waterloo to win several more penalty corners, with the last of those coming just as the buzzer sounded as their last attempt bounced just centimetres wide of the post. 

Waterloo's valiant effort would come up just short against a very competitive Toronto Blues side but they know they are beatable and would like for revenge at the OUA Championships hosted by Waterloo from Oct. 26 – 28 at Warrior Field.
 
The field hockey team now has a weekend off before heading back to the GTA for games against York, Western, and Guelph on October 13^th and 14^th at Downsview Park.