OWEN SOUND, Ont. - On March 19, the Warriors will play their first game of the 2026 Miller Waste U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship, hosted once again by Waterloo in Elmira.
If the black and gold are going to make another run like they did in last year's tournament – where they took home silver – it's likely that they'll look back at Saturday's thrilling comeback win over Toronto as the first step on the path back to the national podium.
Trailing 3-1 with just over two minutes remaining, the Warriors rallied to force overtime, with reigning OUA Player of the Year Carly Orth (Bolton, Ont./Humberview Secondary School) tying the game with just 21 ticks left on the clock.
Less than a minute into the extra frame, Orth found the back of the net again to complete the comeback and snap a three-game losing streak for Waterloo.
It was a much-needed win for a team that started the season 2-1-1-5 and found themselves in last place in the OUA West heading into this weekend's back-to-back. Even sweeter for the Warriors that it came against the Varsity Blues team that defeated them in last season's McCaw Cup final.
1,291 fans were in attendance at Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre in Owen Sound, Ontario to watch this rematch of both the 2024 and 2025 McCaw Cup finals, marking the third straight year the Warriors have played a home game in the city as part of its Hockey Fest celebrations.
Waterloo Warriors players visited three local elementary schools for Q&A sessions on Friday. In the evening, both the Warriors and Varsity Blues led on-ice development clinics for under-9, under-11, under-13, and under-15 players, along with a high-performance session for under-15 and under-18 athletes.
The arena, which counts the OHL's Owen Sound Attack as its primary tenant, hosted minor hockey games all weekend as part of the event, many of whom were among the crowd for Saturday's OUA tilt.
Toronto opened the scoring with a shorthanded marker from Christina Alexiou just over halfway through the opening period, to the dismay of the Waterloo-friendly crowd. It was the only special teams goal in a game that featured plenty of minor penalties, with the Warriors getting called for seven.
Two quick goals from Abby Whitworth and Petra Klimes midway through the middle frame gave the Varsity Blues a 3-0 lead. Brooke Williams (Valley, N.S./Cobequid Educational Center) responded promptly for black and gold, and the score swung from 1-0 to 3-1 in under two minutes of play. It would stay that way heading into the third.
Penalties limited scoring opportunities for Waterloo early in the final frame, but the urgency picked up as the clock waned. With the Warriors buzzing in the offensive zone, Tatum James (Stratford, Ont./Northwestern Secondary School) finally buried a rebound to cut the lead to one with 2:10 left to go.
In the final minute, a pass back to the defence went astray, forcing Waterloo to re-group in the neutral zone with time running down. Ashlyn Kroes' (Milton, Ont./Craig Kielburger Secondary School) pass missed Nikki McDonald, but the fourth-year forward hustled to retrieve it, then calmly sent a pass around the pursuing Toronto defender to a wide-open Orth who made no mistake from the slot.
With the crowd still on their feet as overtime began, Toronto netminder Lyla McKinnon covered for a faceoff in their end. Orth won the draw and got a quick shot on goal. McKinnon couldn't control the rebound, which landed right on the stick of Orth and didn't stay for long before meeting twine.
Following Sunday's 2-1 win over the Ottawa Gee-Gees back at Columbia IceField, the Warriors find themselves back within reach of an OUA playoff spot. It's certainly not where a team with championship aspirations were hoping to find themselves in November, but it's a step in the right direction on the long road to march.
The Warriors will face the Varsity Blues once again on Friday, this time in Toronto. They'll stay in the city to face the TMU Bold on Saturday. Next weekend sees a rematch with the Bold at Columbia IceField on November 28.
Saturday, November 29, the Warriors will return to Woolwich Memorial Centre for the first time since last year's U SPORTS championship game, as they face the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks in this year's Pride Game in Elmira.
