Banner Season: Waterloo looks for first McCaw Cup title in battle against defending champion Blues

Toronto, Ont. (via 49 Sports / Richard Coffey) - There is something beautiful about the finality of the McCaw Cup. Twelve teams play 28 games and potentially up to six more come the postseason, all for this single 60-minute opportunity. The chance to etch yourself into a moment in OUA history.

At the same time, though, that moment can feel a little different depending on the perspective.

For the Toronto Varsity Blues, it might almost feel a little old hat at this point. The 19-time OUA champions have been in this position three times in the last four seasons. For the Waterloo Warriors, though, it’s a little different. This is a moment the Warriors have chased for 22 seasons.

Since the program was founded in 2002, the Warriors have never reached the summit of the OUA and previously only reached the semifinals twice, losing to Guelph in 2017 and Nipissing a season ago.

Really, Waterloo’s history in recent McCaw Cup playoffs has been filled with frustration. In 2022, the top-seeded Warriors lost in an upset to the Western Mustangs in the opening round before reaching the semifinal a year ago and losing twice in overtime to Nipissing to be eliminated.

This season, the Warriors, led by their star duo of Leah Herrfort and Tatum James, who landed third and fourth in OUA scoring, respectively, finished comfortably in second place in the West Division. The regular season showing prompted a Battle of Waterloo in the quarterfinals, which they proceeded to sweep.

In the semifinal, the Warriors dropped Game 1 at home, but a 4-1 win at York sent the series back to Waterloo for the third and decisive tilt, wherein Mikayla Schnarr stopped 24 saves in a 3-0 shutout to send Waterloo to the McCaw Cup for the first time ever.

“The last two years, we’ve come just short, and it’s been super frustrating, but to see it come together and to finally get results is really special,” Herrfort said.

The Warriors now have a chance to do something that few ever get to do: be the team to etch their names into the McCaw Cup outright, not only for their first time, but the first time in their program’s history.

“Not many people get the opportunity to do something like this, so I’m super grateful for that,” Herrfort added. “I do know that we’re not done; there’s more to come, and there’s more history to be made.”

While it might feel like a new beginning for the Warriors, it almost feels like the end of an era for the Blues.

This Varsity Blues roster sees 13 players graduate this season, including captain Taylor Trussler and long-time star goaltender Erica Fryer. After a sustained run of success with two McCaw Cups in 2020 and 2023, it feels like 2023-24 might very well be the “last dance” scenario for this Toronto core. 

This season, led by Trussler’s 10 goals and 23 points, the Varsity Blues’ balanced scoring was the second strongest in the OUA, netting 82 goals. After 102 regular season games and two championship wins already, Trussler will play her final OUA game in the blue and white in the 2024 McCaw Cup, and the moment is not lost on the veteran.

“I’m really excited,” Trussler said. “I’m sure it will be a pretty emotional game regardless of how it goes.”

With Fryer leading in net with the second-best GAA in the OUA at 1.39, the Blues finished second in the East Division behind the Nipissing Lakers. That gave them a first round matchup with the Queen’s Gaels, where an Abby Howland double-overtime goal kept them alive in Game 2, before they took a convincing 6-1 triumph in the finale to advance.

In their semifinal with the Guelph Gryphons, a goaltending duel almost undersells the series, as Fryer and Martina Fedel allowed a combined five goals between them in three games. Fedel earned the 1-0 shutout in the opener, but after a 3-1 win for Toronto in Game 2, Fryer turned away all 31 shots in Game 3 to collect the shutout and punch Toronto’s ticket back to the McCaw Cup.

For a Toronto team that at one point in the previous season had a 16-game winning streak en route to their 2023 McCaw Cup win, this year has definitely been the hardest. “Honestly, we didn’t have an outstanding perfect season this year compared to other years,” Trussler said. “This year, it took a lot of heart to get through the playoffs.”

The two times Toronto squared off with Waterloo in the regular season, it was Toronto coming out on top, taking a 3-0 win in November and a 5-1 win in January.

“Toronto’s one of those teams that we just have had trouble with,” Herrfort said. “But if you look at it, we also had trouble with York, and we were able just to grind away and get a win.”

Waterloo will be looking to avenge those losses, while Toronto will be hoping for another home-ice celebration, but for whichever team’s conference campaign culminates in them hoisting the McCaw Cup, it will be because they ultimately take advantage of the coveted 60-minute opportunity in front them.