SCOREBOARD

Carleton 3 @ Ottawa 4

Queen's 2 @ Laurentian 1

Guelph 0 @ York 3

Windsor 0 @ Laurier 1

The Gee-Gees women's soccer team scored last and it was enough to gain the edge in an intensely played OUA quarter-final against the Carleton Ravens. The game was tied up twice by the Ravens and the teams headed into overtime knotted up at 3-3. It was fifth-year striker Pilar Khoury who put away the game winner for Ottawa in the first overtime period, giving the Gee-Gees the right to host the OUA Final Four on home field.

Khoury has made it a habit over her five-year career to come up with big goals come playoff time and after Carleton's Tina Lacava scored her second goal of the match in minute 84, the stage was set for another dramatic moment. After Carleton's keeper Liz MacDougall punched a free kick away, Vanessa El Asmar corralled the ball for Ottawa and passed it back to the defence. Kayla DaCosta-Pachecho delivered a ball through the middle which was deflected and found Khoury on the right side. With the keeper late to react, Khoury slid the ball to the far corner.

"It shows the heart and character of our team, not giving up," said Khoury of her late-game heroics. "You have to keep taking the same shot regardless of the score or the surroundings and just play the game."  

The game was remarkably tense from the opening kickoff. Carleton jumped on the attack and Ottawa keeper Cynthia Leblanc was tested with tough saves in the opening five minutes. The Gee-Gees answered back and were quickly back in the other end, forcing Carleton's Aaliyah McPherson to make a save on the goal line behind her keeper. Unfortunately, that play resulted in a red card and a penalty kick, which Julia Francki converted to put Ottawa up 1-0 in minute eight.

The Gee-Gees extended the lead at 20 minutes when first-year Ellie Cowan scored from the side of the net on a rebound chance. Carleton peppered Leblanc with six shots in the first half but could not get on the scoreboard until the second half when they scored twice within ten minutes to knot up the game at 2-2. The first came on a short range shot by Lacava in minute 58. That was followed by a long, powerful strike from Sarah Royer which found the top corner at the 69 minute mark.

Incredibly, the teams exchanged goals again. First Cowan redirected a beautiful free kick by Anika Littlemore to put Ottawa back on top. Then, Carleton found an answer when a ball got through the box in tight from left to right and Lacava was there to deposit the ball in the back of the net.

"I thought we kept our composure," said Gee-Gees head coach Steve Johnson, "Both in terms of the physicality and the back-and-forth scoring, we didn't back down. Some fantastic shots and a few rebounds let them back into the game, but a lot of the things we did defensively were what we were prepared to do." 

Ottawa will look to defend its 2014 OUA Championship next weekend on home field, starting with a semifinal match against the Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday, November 7. The York Lions and Queen's Gaels will play in the other semifinal, with the championship game set for 2 p.m., on Sunday, November 8.

Source: Ottawa Gee-Gees

Voyaguers went down early and fell short in second round

After a tough start, the Laurentian Voyageurs were unable to erase the lead that the Queens Gaels held early in the game and lost 2-1 in the second round of the playoffs. 

The game began with Queens in control, keeping the play in the Voyageurs' zone and forcing the Laurentian defence to be on their game early. Richele Greenwood was bombarded with shots, making key saves when she could but Tara Bartram was left alone in front. At the fourth minute, the Gaels picked up the first tally of the game. Four minutes later Queens was awarded a corner kick. Micah Vermeer headed it into the side of the net to give her team a two-goal cushion in the first ten minutes of the game. 

Despite the discouraging events, Laurentian did not back down. As Greenwood continued to keep her team in the game, the girls began to add some pressure of their own. They slowly worked up the field to earn some scoring opportunities of their own. In the last two minutes of the first half, Laurentian attempted to score on two corner kicks but were unable to get anything past Michaila Frawley. 

The second half went more in favour of the Voyageurs, showing the determination that the team was able to assemble. The girls worked to a throw in, Allison Pilon took the ball and made a great toss that Sarah Sanford was able to pick up and direct into the back of the net. Laurentian brought the score to 2-1 in the fifty-first minute. Greenwood again made some great saves to keep the Queens lead at one. 

Laurentian seemed to be reenergized, but everything they were working towards did not put the ball into the net. The Gaels held on to their lead to move to the next round of the playoffs. The Voyageurs, who received a by into the second round, could not overcome their opponent and were eliminated after their first game of the postseason. 

Source: Laurentian Voyageurs

Lions blank Gryphons to advance to OUA Final Four

The No. 2 nationally-ranked York University Lions women's soccer team started its run in the OUA playoffs with a 3-0 victory over the Guelph Gryphons in their quarter-final game at York Stadium on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 1).
 
Coming off hot from the regular season with a 15-0-1 record and two wins against the Gryphons in their last two meetings, the Lions were deemed the favourites heading into the match and they did not disappoint, scoring three goals in the second half to reach the OUA Final Four Championships for the first time since 2009.
 
The Lions completely dominated the first half with 11 shots on goal as opposed to just zero by the Gryphons. Windy conditions denied goals from Charlene D'Mello (Mississauga, Ont.) and Sydney Hoareau (Brampton, Ont.), but the points would come in the second half when the Lions broke through with relentless attack.
 
Opening the scoring in the 65^th minute was Colleen Beesley (Richmond Hill, Ont.), who bullied a few Gryphons around in the box before striking through the ball and crashing the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
 
Following with a second goal five minutes later was Sarah Wong (Scarborough, Ont.). After making a darting run towards Gryphons goalkeeper Holly Miller, Wong got herself into a dangerous area to place the ball into the near post and secure a 2-0 lead.
 
Then in the 78^th minute Wong was back for more at the top of the box to finish off the Gryphons with a third goal. Executing off of a first-timed volley, Wong put the game to rest and finalized the 3-0 win.
 
Taylor Grant (Brampton, Ont.) also grabbed her first shutout of the post-season, making two saves to keep the Lions in the game.
 
With the 3-0 win, the Lions have now advanced into the OUA semifinals that will kick off on Saturday (Nov. 7) at the University of Ottawa. The Lions will face off against the OUA East's Queens Gael's (7-2-7) at 11am in Ottawa.

Source: York Lions

Brown sends Laurier to OUA Final Four

WATERLOO, Ont. (November 1, 2015) – Fifth year forward Emily Brown scored the game's only goal as the No. 6 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women's soccer team defeated the Windsor Lancers 1-0 in the OUA Quarter-finals on Sunday afternoon at University Stadium.

Brown, a native of Waterloo, Ont., who was playing in her final game at home in what has been a remarkable career, buried a rebound into an awning net in the 68th minute to send the Golden Hawks through to their ninth consecutive OUA Final Four tournament.

"It's fitting that she scores because she is a natural goal scorer," said head coach Barry MacLean on his star striker. "There was a lot of good, positive things on that goal but Emily, obviously finishing, is good for us."

"It was exhilarating," added Brown. "It was a little bit nerve wracking because I knew it was just me, the ball and the net which is always a high-pressure situation. I was really close in and I just had to tap it in. It was just good position and good timing."

Brown's goal came thanks to some outstanding build-up play from fellow forward Nicole Lyon of Kitchener, Ont. After shrugging off a couple of defenders along the sidelines, Lyon worked into the middle of the field where she threaded a perfect pass through to midfielder Katie Bishop of Surrey, B.C. Bishop was denied on a strong shot by Lancers goalie Krystin Lawrence of Tecumseh, Ont., but the ball fell right to a wide-open Brown who made no mistake in hitting the open net. 

For Brown, the goal is the sixth of her playoff career, adding to an impressive regular season total of 76 goals for the OUA modern-day scoring leader.

In a game that was void of many quality scoring opportunities, the Lancers did manage to control possession throughout the first half as they had the stiff wind that was blowing through University Stadium at their backs.

The best chance of the opening 45 minutes came off the foot of Windsor forward Cassie Chretien of Tecumseh, Ont. After some nice work from the Lancers in tight to the Hawks net, Chretien found herself with a chance to shoot from five yards out but Laurier keeper Ashley Almeida of Burlington, Ont., dove to her left to punch it clear.

With the wind at their backs in the second half, Laurier slowly took the game over and nearly took the lead in the 51st minute when Abbey Zamec of London, Ont., found Brown in the box but her spinning shot sailed just high and wide over the net.

Fifteen minutes later, Windsor would get their best opportunity of the second half when Jaclyn Faraci of LaSalle, Ont., burst in down the right wing but her shot found the outside of the post, keeping the game scoreless.

Only minutes later, Brown would not be denied when she got her second opportunity of the match and that goal would be all Laurier would need to move on to the OUA Semifinals.

Almeida, who was making her first career playoff start, picked up the clean sheet for the purple and gold as she finished the contest with two saves. Lawrence took the loss for Windsor, allowing the one goal on four shots. 

Laurier will now face the OUA Final Four hosts, the Ottawa Gee-Gees, next Saturday, November 7, with a berth to the gold medal game and the national championships on the line. Game time is set for 2 p.m. at Matt Anthony Field in Ottawa and the match can be seen live on OUA.tv.

Source: Laurier Golden Hawks