At 1:00 PM, the two seeded Toronto Varsity Blues and the three seeded Waterloo Warriors faced off in the second OUA Field Hockey Semi-Final match. The game was expected to be an evenly fought contest and certainly was exactly that through the first quarter. Waterloo got a penalty corner early on which led to a shot from Tavie Gould (Waterloo, ONT/Laurel Heights Secondary School) on net that was saved by Toronto Goalkeeper Mary Yang. Toronto would go on to have two penalty corners of their own but could not generate anything out of them. Sierra Blackburn (Kitchener, ONT/Bluevale Collegiate Institute) put one towards the net for Waterloo also but could not find the net as it sailed wide. The first quarter ended with the score still even at 0-0.
The second quarter kept the same game flow as the first as both sides traded chances back and forth. Waterloo got a penalty corner early in the frame but could not generate anything from it. From there, Toronto poured on the pressure, getting a shot on net from Olivia Thompson but it was saved by Waterloo Goalkeeper Grace Miller (Waterloo, ONT/Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School). Toronto kept applying pressure as they would secure three more penalty corners in the frame, with one ending up as a shot on goal for Maggie Mullins that was also saved by Miller. Waterloo then applied some pressure of their own, securing their own penalty corner followed by a shot by Jennifer Munford (Vancouver, BC/Crofton House School) but that shot was blocked before it could reach the net. Neither side could break the tie as they headed into halftime still tied at 0-0.
The second half started and the game pace picked up tremendously with both teams generating chances in the frame. Toronto and Waterloo traded shots early, with Toronto getting shots on net from Lisa van der Knaap and Maggie Mullins, while Waterloo's shot came from Maeve Turner (Baden, ONT/Waterloo-Oxford). All three shots were saved to keep the score tied 0-0. However, Toronto continued to apply pressure and was finally able to break the tie 5 minutes into the third quarter off a goal from Ava Airnes to give the Varsity Blues a 1-0 lead. Toronto would go on to have another shot from Danielle D'Silva but it was saved by Miller again. Toronto then ran into some card trouble as Ellie Mullins was sent off with a green card. Roughly a minute later, Maddy Kim was sent off with a yellow card, putting Toronto down again. Waterloo would respond with a shot from Tavie Gould (Waterloo, ONT/Laurel Heights Secondary School) on net that would be saved by Yang. Toronto would continue applying pressure as Vanessa Marques would sail a shot high. The Varsity Blues would also get some penalty chances towards the end of the quarter and capitalize on one of them 3 second before the end of the quarter with Imke Arndt scoring to give the Varsity Blues a 2-0 lead after three quarters.
The fourth quarter started and the Varsity Blues did not let up. Toronto would continue to apply pressure with shots from both Danielle D'Silva and Olivia Thompson going on net but they would both be saved by Grace Miller (Waterloo, ONT/Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School). Kirsten D'Silva would continue the pressure as she would fire two shots towards the net with the Warriors able to make defensive saves on both. Waterloo would attempt to spark their team by pulling their goalie with 5:41 left to give themselves an extra attacker. Their attempt to tie the game would be unsuccessful as Toronto would hold on to secure a 2-0 victory over the Warriors and set up a battle of Toronto in the OUA Championships tomorrow.
Waterloo and Guelph will play in the bronze medal game at 11:00 AM at York's Alumni Field.
