Western, Queen’s to play for gold at OUA Women’s Lacrosse Championship
KITCHENER, Ont. (October 21, 2017) – The Western Mustangs and Queen’s Gaels will renew their rivalry on Sunday afternoon with an OUA Championship on the line at the 2017 OUA Women’s Lacrosse Championship after both teams won their semifinal games on Saturday.
Western advanced to their ninth consecutive gold medal final with a 10-4 victory over the Toronto Varsity Blues, while Queen’s knocked out the host Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks in a hard-fought 9-7 win.
Other action on Saturday saw Trent and Brock advance to the fifth place game with wins over Guelph and McMaster, respectively. In the ninth place game, York defeated UOIT in the final game of the championship for both teams.
In the Western/Toronto game, the two teams battled in a close opening half that saw the Mustangs hold a 5-4 lead after 30 minutes. But the six-time champions brought their game to a new level as they shutout the Blues in the second half to advance to play for gold.
Hayley Liske led the way for the Mustangs with two goals and two assists, while teammate Calaina Brooke added two goals.
Queen’s and Laurier squared off in the first semifinal and found themselves even at three at halftime. The Gaels would pull away in the second half thanks to three goals from Kiah Shanks, who would finish the game with four tallies in total.
Rose Williams and Kaitlyn Massey replied with two goals each for the Golden Hawks, who will play in the bronze medal game for the third consecutive year.
Action on the third and final day of the championship gets underway at 9:00 am with the seventh place game between Guelph and McMaster. The fifth place game between Trent and Brock will start at 11:30 am.
The medal round begins at 12:00 pm with the bronze medal game between Laurier and Toronto, with Western and Queen’s closing out the championship with the gold medal match at 1:30 pm.