GUELPH, Ont. - While Sunday's triple-overtime loss in Guelph wasn't the last game the black and gold will play this year, it's a heartbreaking end to their OUA playoff run.
"Just disappointment, sadness, especially for our graduating group," said Head Coach Shaun Reagan when asked what went through his mind when Teghan MacRae's point shot found its way into the back of the net, bringing an end to game 3 of the OUA quarterfinals just under four hours after the opening faceoff.
"Just how much effort they put in and how much time, it's like you can't believe it when it goes in."
That disbelief was evident in the body language of the Warriors players as the Gryphons poured onto the ice to mob the overtime hero. Waterloo outshot Guelph 28-16 in the three overtime periods, and gave themselves chance after chance after chance to end it.
"Usually when you miss that many chances in OT, it's going to come back to bite you at some point. You know, it's one of those things where I guess that's sport, right? That stuff happens."
The game started much like Wednesday's series opener at Gryphon Centre, with the home team looking like the faster squad on Guelph's Olympic-sized ice and controlling play through the first ten minutes. Maeve Sutherland-Case's wraparound attempt midway through the frame yielded two big rebounds, Kara Mark (New Hamburg, Ont./Waterloo Oxford District Secondary School and Victus Academy) stopped the first but couldn't stop Katherine Heard from burying the second.
The Gryphons turned to the Olympian Martina Fedel as their starting goaltender, after she made her first OUA appearance in four months on Friday, coming on in relief of Sophie Helfenstein. She got a rough welcome back to the conference when Keiara Raitt (Ancaster, Ont./Ancaster High School) scored perhaps the goal of the year 40 seconds after she stepped into the crease.
It was Raitt tormenting Fedel again when she pounced on a misplayed puck with the goaltender well out of her net and fired it into the open cage to tie the game with a shorthanded goal. It was a rare mistake by the Italian, who was nearly flawless through the remaining 122 minutes of play.
Carly Orth (Bolton, Ont./Humberview Secondary School) took a body checking penalty near the end of the first period, and the Warriors would have to start the second shorthanded. Waterloo - and Orth in particular – were punished by tight officiating throughout the first nine periods of this series, hampering their hard-nosed style of play.
Midway through the frame, the Warriors began to use the extra space more effectively and were generating solid chances off the rush. Fedel and some impressive backchecking from the Gryphons turned away the first few, but Emma Thronton's perfect pass with four minutes left in the frame was redirected right under the bar by Nikki McDonald for the go-ahead goal.
The Warriors would continue to pressure until the buzzer, and the sizable black and gold crowd that traveled down Highway 7 made themselves heard as time expired on the second period.
The third period was played mostly in Guelph'send, with Waterloo outshooting the home side 10-5. The Gryphons would fend off a four-minute powerplay midway through the frame, and the momentum from the kill was converted almost immediately with Arielle MacDonald tying the game with just over four minutes remaining.
That momentum continued to start the first extra frame, with Mark flashing the leather on a beautiful glove save after a flurry of chances in the opening minutes.
"Marky kept us in the game," said Reagan. "She was outstanding."
The style of officiating seemed to completely turn on its head, as it often does for playoff overtime hockey, and these OUA West Division rivals let the emotions of a back-and-forth three game series show on the ice in a physical three periods of overtime.
It seemed nearly every Warriors got her chance to be the hero. Fedel turned away Tatum James (Stratford, Ont./Northwestern Secondary School) with a toe-save and took a rocket from Raitt off the mask in the first overtime. Emma Thornton (Kitchener, Ont./Huron Heights Secondary School) nearly dangled her way through for a goal. Brooke Williams (Valley, N.S./Cobequid Educational Center) crashed the net hard but missed swiping at a loose rebound. Brodi Levitt (Caledonia, Ont./McKinnon Park) intercepted a pass and nearly set-up Sarah Hirst (Campbellville, Ont./Milton District) for the winner seconds into the second extra frame.
With fatigue visibly affecting both teams, the Warriors were called repeatedly for icing, and were forced to use their time out midway through the period. Guelph played extremely conservative, and were able to limit any rush chances but struggled to generate much offence of their own while rarely sending more than one skater below the hashmarks, and this stalemate is what led to the game being extended to a sixth period.
Orth looked ready to take over the game and had two incredible chances early in what proved to be the final frame. Raitt had maybe the closest chance when she slid the puck under Fedel's pad and hit the right post.
For the first time in what seemed like forever, the Gryphons maintained possession for an extended stretch, and that was all it took. MacRae's shot found its way through layers of traffic and fooled Mark, and Guelph will move on to the OUA semifinals.
With Toronto also being eliminated on Sunday, both the Varsity Blues' and Warriors' bid for a third consecutive McCaw Cup appearance were cut short on the same day. There will be a new team atop the OUA this season.
The Warriors will turn their attention to their next game: 7:00 PM on Thursday, March 19 at Woolwich Memorial Arena, in the second quarterfinal of the 2026 Miller Waste U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship.
"I think we'll definitely take a few days off here and rest up and heal up, and then we'll just get back at it," said Reagan.
With the loss likely locking the Warriors into the #8-seed as the host berth in the national championship tournament, they're likely to face either #1-ranked UBC or #2-ranked Concordia, should those teams emerge victorious in their conference championships. They'll face unraked Manitoba and #7 Montreal, respectively. Those four teams join Waterloo as the five to have already booked their trip to Elmira.
Guelph will battle Ontario Tech for a spot in the McCaw Cup final as well as a national championship berth, the same is on the line for Laurier and Ottawa.
Tickets for the 2026 Miller Waste U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship are on sale now.
