Banner Season: Warriors, Blues meet for second straight season with McCaw Cup on the line

Burlington, Ont. (via Richard Coffey) – With the McCaw Cup soon to be raised, another season of OUA women's hockey is nearing its conclusion; one that sees the same two teams as a year ago taking the ice to compete for the coveted conference banner.

It was just one year ago in a packed Varsity Arena that Paige Rynne's goal at 8:47 of the first overtime period gave the Waterloo Warriors a 2-1 win and their first-ever McCaw Cup title while at the same time, dashing the Toronto Varsity Blues' aspirations of winning back-to-back championships on their home ice.

Fast forward to the 2024-25 campaign and these teams meet again. This time, the championship will take place on Waterloo's home ice, with the Warriors looking to do what Toronto couldn't do roughly 372 days ago and complete the back-to-back. Meanwhile, Toronto looks for redemption and their third McCaw Cup triumph since 2019-20.

How the Warriors got here is quite simple. This team simply could not stop putting the puck in the net. A league-high 88 goals in the regular season meant Waterloo scored 25 more times than the next-highest team in the West Division in Laurier with 63.

Veteran seniors Tatum James and Leah Herrfort continued to deliver offensively the same way they have done for years, but another breakout star, senior Carly Orth, led the Warriors up front. Orth, whose previous season high was seven goals and 13 points, picked up 11 goals and 31 points to sit tied atop the OUA scoring race.

Goaltender of the year Kara Mark took back control of the net in goal, meanwhile, starting 24 of 26 games and delivering a 17-7-0 record with a 1.65 GAA and a .945 save percentage. In these playoffs, though, Mark somehow still found a second gear, shutting out Nipissing in Game 1 of their semifinal series before stopping 40, including 16 beyond regulation, in the Warrior's 4-3 2OT win to clinch their spot on the banner season stage.

For the Toronto Varsity Blues, a youth movement has carried them back to the McCaw Cup.

It starts between the pipes with first-year goalie Lyla McKinnon, who put up a solid 12-8-0 record in her first OUA season, with a 2.24 GAA and a .915 save percentage. Like Mark, though, McKinnon hit a new level in the postseason, allowing just four goals across four starts, capped off with a 27-save shutout in Game 2 of Toronto's semifinal series with Guelph.

The youth movement extends beyond goaltending, though, with sophomore twins Ashley and Taylor Delahey finishing first and third on the Blues in scoring.

The veterans are still plentiful on the Blues; however, including long-time offensive stalwart senior Ali McKeown, who led the Blues with 11 goals, and fifth-year former Queen's captain Scout Watkins-Southward, who came to Toronto after four seasons with the Gaels and also captained Team Canada at the 2025 FISU World University Games in Italy in January.

Still, it has been a balance of youth and experience that has carried the Blues back to the McCaw Cup, and that combination will look to bring the trophy back to Toronto.

Trying to make a prediction in a one-game championship can often feel like a fool's errand. For Waterloo, a team with so much offensive firepower, the goal is simple though: score first. The Warriors went 15-2-2 when they scored first across the regular season and playoffs this year, and in facing a goalie in McKinnon playing in her first McCaw Cup title, scoring first might give them that slight edge they need.

On the other side, the biggest question for the Varsity Blues is if they can find the player to have that one breakout moment. In 2023, it was Celine Frappier burying the winner with 28 seconds to play to sink the Nipissing Lakers 2-1, while in 2020, it was Erica Fryer in net, stopping 34 shots in a 3-1 win over the York Lions. Who will be the player that can step up in the big moment for Toronto?

A Warriors team of veterans looking to peak together one more time against a Toronto team looking to bridge old and new to bring home another championship. Two OUA titans locked in a rematch of a heart-pounding battle one year prior.

The 2025 McCaw Cup should be one for the ages.