Semifinalists set after Day 1 of OUA Women’s Lacrosse Championship
KITCHENER, Ont. (October 20, 2017) – Day 1 of the 2017 OUA Women’s Lacrosse Championship, hosted by the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, went as expected on Friday for the favourites as the top four teams entering the tournament advanced to the semifinals at Woodside Park.
The host Golden Hawks, along with the Western Mustangs, the Queen’s Gaels and the Toronto Varsity Blues all qualified for the medal round after posting quarter-final wins. Laurier and Queen’s will square off in one semifinal on Saturday afternoon while Western and Toronto will meet in the second semifinal.
Game 1 – McMaster vs UOIT
Sophie Skillen and Kasey Pfau each notched four goals and an assist to pace the McMaster Marauders past the UOIT Ridgebacks in the opening game of the tournament.
With the winner advancing from the play-in game to the quarter-finals, the Marauders were quick to jump on the Ridgebacks, scoring seven times in the opening half to stake themselves to a 7-1 lead.
The Marauders continued their offensive onslaught in the second half, thanks to a pair of goals from Pfau and Meagan Capati, to advance to a quarter-final matchup with the Western Mustangs.
Game 2 – Guelph vs York
The Guelph Gryphons pitched a shutout in the opening half of their play-in game against the York Lions en route to a 13-3 victory.
Thanks to a trio of goals in the opening half from Erin Murray, the Gryphons stormed out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back as they advanced to face the Queen’s Gaels.
Murray finished the contest with four goals and two assists while Susanna Coss also notched four goals in the win.
Game 3 – Laurier vs Trent
In the highest scoring game of the opening day, the host Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks outlasted the Trent Excalibur 15-12 to eliminate the reigning OUA Champions.
The Hawks jumped out to an 11-7 lead after the first half thanks to the efforts of Rose Williams who three goals and four assists in the opening 30 minutes.
Trent would battle back in the second half but the deficit was too large as Laurier advanced to the medal round for the third straight season.
Williams would finish the contest with four goals and eight points for the Hawks while Taylor Miller added a hat-trick.
Donna Ward replied with three goals and an assist for the Excalibur.
Game 4 – Toronto vs Brock
Sarah Jamieson had four goals and an assist and Geneva Calder had three goals as the Varsity Blues rallied to reach the semifinals with a 12-6 win over the Badgers.
Trailing 5-4 after the opening 30 minutes, Toronto went on a tear over the final 10 minutes of the game, scoring five times to blow open what was a tightly contested match.
Victoria Halliday led the Badgers attack with a goal and two assists in the first half but was held pointless in the second half.
Game 5 – Western vs McMaster
Western, the top team in the OUA this season, had little trouble with the Marauders in their quarter-final match as the Mustangs shutout McMaster in the opening half en route to an 11-3 victory.
Shay Van Every was a difference maker for the Mustangs in this contest as she registered three goals and an assist.
Her teammates Heather Pearson and Hayley Liske each added a pair of goals for Western’s attack.
Game 6 – Queen’s vs Guelph
In a hard-fought battle, the Queen’s Gaels used a stingy first half to outrun the Guelph Gryphons 9-4 in the final game of Day 1.
Holding the Gryphons to just a single goal, the Gaels, the top team in the East this season, scored five of their own to take an insurmountable lead.
Four Gaels recorded a pair of goals in the contest including Alexa Fenton, Molly Fisher, Emily Arkell and Annie Lloyd.
Action gets underway on Day 2 with the ninth place game between York and UOIT 10 a.m. Consolation semifinals kickoff with Brock taking on McMaster at 11:30 a.m. while Trent plays Guelph at 1 p.m.
Semifinals close out the action on Saturday as Laurier and Queen’s square off at 2:30 p.m. Western and Toronto wrap up the day’s action at 4 p.m.
