Hershorn Trophy up for grabs this weekend at the OUA Water Polo Championship

BURLINGTON, Ont. – The top collegiate water polo teams in the province will converge on the Queen's Athletic and Recreation Centre (ARC) for the OUA Water Polo Championship this weekend.

Once again this year, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues enter the championship as the top seed and, along with the No. 2 seeded Carleton Ravens, will receive a first-round bye.  The Blues will face the winner of Ottawa and Queen's in their semifinal matchup, while Carleton will take on the winner of McMaster and Western.

If history is any indication, the Blues and rival Ravens appear to be on a collision course for Sunday's final.  Since 2004, either Toronto or Carleton are the only clubs to hoist the Hershorn Trophy, first presented in 1920 by Mr. H. Hershorn of Montreal.  Over that time, the Varsity Blues have won the championship eight times, while the Ravens have raised the OUA banner four times. 

The two teams have alternated ownership of the title every year since 2010 and if the pattern holds true it will be Toronto's turn come Sunday afternoon.

Earlier this month in a potential OUA championship preview, the Varsity Blues made quick work of the competition at the Queen's Invitational, sweeping their three game series with the Mustangs, Ravens and Gaels.  The Blues opened the tournament with a decisive 11-1 win over Western before clobbering Carleton in a 2015 OUA championship rematch 5-1.  In the finale, the Varsity Blues used a seven goal outburst in the third quarter to put away the host Gaels 15-2.

After being named OUA all-stars a season ago, Emre Tali (Istanbul, Turkey) and Sukhmun Hare (North Vancouver, BC) are back in the mix once again this season and looking to lead the Blues to their 31^st title in program history.

In the nation's capital, the Ravens will look to Zoltan Csepregi to once again lead the Ravens to another OUA championship.  Csepregi, who coached the team from 2010-14, takes over from former Ravens bench boss Michel Roy who managed the team to gold at the 2015 OUA championship. 

Carleton returns a trio of OUA all-stars from a season ago as Dusan Boskovic (Belgrade, Serbia), Rodrigo Rojas (Lima, Peru) and Yorek Hurrelmann (Ottawa, Ont.) are all back in the fold again for the Ravens.  In last year's final against the Blues, Boskovic and Rojas paced the Ravens offence with four goals apiece.

The uOttawa Gee-Gees will make the trip to Kingston, Ont. this weekend as the defending OUA bronze medallists in 2015. 

Despite the departure of leading scorers Jovan Dabic and Giulio Vampa, a young Gee-Gees squad that features nine first-year players is expected to challenge once again for a medal.  uOttawa will be led offensively by second-year standout Filip Matic (Ottawa, Ont.).  Last year at the OUA championship, Matic scored four goals for his hometown Gee-Gees, including the game-winner against McMaster in the bronze medal match.   

Coming off a fourth place finish a season ago, the McMaster Marauders have podium aspirations this weekend. 

Led by 2015 OUA all-star Colin Colterjohn (Hamilton, Ont.) and his brother Tristan Colterjohn (Hamilton, Ont.) the Marauders seem poised to potentially take a step up on Sunday. 

Not only are the Colterjohn brothers back in the mix this season for McMaster, but Nick Davies (Hamilton, Ont.) will play a major role in the success of his hometown club this weekend.  Last year, Davies, a fourth-year chemical enginnering major, led the team in goals, including four in last year's bronze medal loss to the aforementioned Gee-Gees.  

The host and No. 5 seed Queen's Gaels and No. 6 seed Western Mustangs round out the competition.

The tournament begins on Friday night at 7:50 pm with quarterfinal action between the Gee-Gees and host Gaels.  The Marauders and Mustangs will follow at 9:00 pm with both teams looking to advance to Saturday's semifinals.

At the conclusion of the OUA championship, OUA gold, silver and bronze medals will be presented.  OUA championship major award winners and all-stars will also be recognized following the gold medal match.

Follow @OUAsport and @queensgaels on Twitter for updates throughout the championship.