SCOREBOARD

Carleton 0 @ Laurentian 1

Windsor 1 @ McMaster 1

Toronto 1 @ Ottawa 3

Laurier 1 @ Guelph 1

Voyageurs silence Ravens 1-0, advance to quarter-finals

SUDBURY, ON - The Voyageurs women's soccer team punched their ticket to the second round of the OUA playoffs today as they upended the Carleton Ravens, 1-0 at LU soccer field.

The Voyageurs controlled the ball throughout the first half, creating many scoring opportunities which included a penalty kick in the 34th minute. Striker, Sarah Sanford took the line for the Voyageurs but was rejected by Ravens goalkeeper Rada Mintchev. Carleton created their own opportunities late in the half but both teams ended the first tied 0-0.

The second half was much of the same, with both teams trading scoring opportunities and both goalkeepers keeping their team in the game with timely saves. The tiebreaker came in the 81st minute when Sam Selkirk converted a cross from Brianne Rodrigue to net the lone goal of the game.

The Voyageurs now await the result of the remaining quarter-final games in order to determine who they will face, on the road, in the second round which will be played this weekend.

Be sure to check www.luvoyageurs.com for updated playoff information.

Source: Laurentian Voyageurs

Lancers defeat Marauders in penalty kicks

The Lancer women's soccer team came from behind on Wednesday night to defeat the McMaster Marauders in the first round of the OUA playoffs to advance to the OUA quarter-finals.
 
Windsor entered the game as the third seed, while the Marauders came in as the sixth. The Lancers only loss during the regular season came at the hands of McMaster earlier this month in Hamilton.
 
After the teams failed to find the back of the net in regulation, McMaster's Amy Froome put her team up by one four minutes into the overtime. The Lancers didn't back down and with just one minute remaining in extra time, Jazmin Martin scored the equalizer, bringing about penalties at 1-1.
 
Marauders captain Cassidy Davis was the first to the spot, but Lancer goaltender Krystin Lawrence stood tall and made the save. Windsor took an immediate lead when Cassie Chretien converted on their first attempt. Lawrence then denied Taylor Lambert, giving Windsor a two-goal lead when Giulia Barile made good on her shot.
 
McMaster did manage to slip two behind Lawrence, but goals from Chelsea Zavitz and Jaclyn Faraci secured the win for the Blue & Gold.
 
The Lancers will now face the No.1 seed York Lions in the quarter-finals on Sunday October 30th at 1:00pm in Toronto. In their two previous meetings this year, the Lancers came away with a 1-1 draw and a 1-0 win last week on the road.

Source: Windsor Lancers

Extra time goals send Ottawa through to quarter-finals

The Gee-Gees women's soccer team had opportunity after opportunity to pull away from the visiting Varsity Blues in the first round of the OUA conference playoffs on Wednesday night at Matt Anthony Field. Finally, in the last minute of the first extra period, senior captain Morgan McNeil found the back of the net on a fantastic goal. Ottawa added an insurance marker ten minutes later to win 3-1 and advance to the quarter-finals on Sunday afternoon at Queen's.

Ottawa jumped out to an early lead just three minutes into the contest when first-year Emma Lefebvre fought for position in the scramble following a corner kick chance. Toronto equalized on a strong strike from Natasha Klasios in minute 24, setting the stage for eighty minutes of tied up football. 

The Gee-Gees controlled posession effectively following the Toronto goal. When the Blues did build up chances, they often did not result in shots or Margot Shore was able to come out and prevent the play from developing. Shore made five total saves in the contest, while her counterpart Tori Edgar faced 18 shots on net. 

"I thought we worked so hard and we knew that it was in us the whole time," said Gee-Gees senior Victoria Marchand. "I think we were smart with our speed and we were concsiouly making that running effort. We kept swtiching the ball through the back and it made a big difference."

McNeil's goal was set up beautifully by a long arcing service by Jenna Lu. Faythe Lou got on the end of it for a header in the box, passing it to McNeil in the centre. The midfielder wound up with a big right kick and followed through on a strike at hip level. "That header was a very intelligent play," said Gee-Gees head coach Steve Johnson.

"I think the will to win was probably the most important thing for us," continued Johnson. "We played smart, we found spaces and channels and the players did a terrific job of keeping the ball moving. It was the best team victory that we've had this year."

Source: Ottawa Gee-Gees

Gryphons win in shootout versus Laurier, advance to OUA quarter-finals

GUELPH, ON – Libby Brenneman hadn't allowed a goal on home field this season.
 
But finally giving up a goal late in regulation time on Wednesday didn't stop the third-year goalkeeper from coming back to save the game – and the season – for her Guelph Gryphons.
 
The Baden, ON native was perfect in penalty kicks as Guelph edged the Laurier Golden Hawks 2-1 in OUA women's soccer preliminary playoff action at the Gryphon Soccer Complex.

"It's something I've loved since I was super young," Brenneman said of the pressure that comes with facing PKs at the end of a game. She recalled a similar end to a contest against Windsor in her rookie year with the Gryphs.
 
"It was kind of a flashback to that, so I was more excited than nervous."
 
Brenneman made three saves on Laurier's kicks, with a fourth shot missing the net high. Allison Clouse and Sarah Magalhaes scored on penalties for the home team, sandwiched between a miss by Jacquie Preza and a crossbar by Ann-Carolyn Lang.
 
"Libby's been great for us all year. She just came through big-time," said Gryphs head coach Randy Ragan. "It seems like the more pressure she's under, the better she performs."
 
Penalty kicks were necessary after Guelph and Laurier traded late goals in regulation and two 15-minute extra periods solved nothing. The two teams had stymied each other until the 85^th minute when Victoria Hinchliffe gave the Gryphs a 1-0 lead, beating Ashley Almeida of the Hawks on a breakaway.
 
It was looking good for the home team, who had blanked their opponents in all nine of their regular season contests and just needed to shut the door in the final moments in order to advance. But Laurier's Ellie Reid broke that shutout streak in extra time on a scramble in close.
 
"A goal like that is terrible to have happen, but we fought back and held them off," said Brenneman, who had a league-leading 10 shutouts during the regular season. "Our coach just brought us all in and told us that if we wanted to make it further than we did last year, we're going to have to keep fighting."
 
"It was a real heartbreaker," Ragan said, "but I think they responded well."

The coach felt that his team played tentative and slow to start off Wednesday's game, but he also gave credit to Laurier for another strong performance. Although the sixth-place Hawks finished 18 points behind third-place Guelph in the OUA West regular season standings, they were extremely tough opponents in head-to-head play this year, earning a 2-2 tie and dropping a 1-0 decision.
 
"Laurier's record is not a good reflection of what a quality team they are," Ragan said.
 
The Gryphs will travel on Sunday to face the second-place Western Mustangs in the next OUA West playoff round. Guelph was winless against Western during the regular season, losing 2-0 in September in London and playing to a 0-0 tie last week at home.
 
"They're a very athletic team and a very energetic team," Ragan said of the Mustangs. "They work hard and they're very competitive, so we've got to match that.
 
"We've got to learn from tonight. . . the negative is that we had to go into extra time, but the positive is that maybe we can build a lot of confidence after pulling through like that."

Source: Guelph Gryphons