Varsity Blues begin title defence on September 20th in championship rematch with Gryphons

HAMILTON, Ont. - Ontario University Athletics (OUA) field hockey will return on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015 when the teams converge on the University of Guelph for the opening weekend of regular season action.

The York Lions and Western Mustangs will kick off the weekend with both teams looking to start the 2015 season off on a winning note.

Later in the afternoon, the aforementioned Lions will take on the Waterloo Warriors in a rematch of last season's quarter-final game.  Despite defeating the Lions in both of their regular season meetings, the Warriors will be looking for revenge as they were eliminated from the postseason by York by a score of 2-0.

Fans of OUA field hockey and the University of Toronto Varsity Blues won't have to wait long into the season for a championship rematch with the Gryphons as the two teams will face off on Sunday, Sept. 20.  Toronto shut out Guelph 3-0 to capture their 30^th OUA field hockey championship in program history last season.  While the Varsity Blues finished the regular season with a perfect 12-0 record, both of their matchups against Guelph were decided by just one goal.

Sunday action will continue with the opening weekend host Guelph Gryphons battling the Queen's Gaels.  These two teams met in last year's semi-finals, with the Gryphons defeating the Gaels 2-0, to advance to the championship game.  Guelph swept Queen's by scores of 3-1 and 5-1 in both of their regular season matchups last year.

The following weekend, the action will shift to York University as the Lions will play host.  On Sunday, Sept. 27, the 416 rivalry will be renewed as the Lions welcomes their crosstown rivals, the Varsity Blues, to the not-so-friendly confines of York Stadium.

Later that afternoon, the Lions will take on the Gaels in a rematch of last year's bronze medal game.  In that game, Lindsay Bjornson's goal in the 67^th minute was enough as Queen's escaped with a 2-1 victory.

The regular season continues on Oct. 3 as the teams will travel to Western University before heading to the University of Toronto for a weekend of action Oct. 17-18.

The OUA regular season concludes with a full slate of games on Oct. 24-25 at Queen's University.

The OUA Championship will be hosted by the University of Toronto, with the tournament running from Friday, Oct. 30 to Sunday, Nov. 1.

Read the full schedule here.