Strong second half lifts Blues over Gryphons

Alison Lee scored two goals as the University of Toronto Varsity Blues field hockey team opened their 2015 regular season campaign with a 5-2 win over the Guelph Gryphons on Saturday morning in Guelph.

In a rematch of last year's OUA final, Lee opened the scoring off a penalty corner in the 14th minute. The Gryphons would respond just before the first half ended with a goal off the stick of Allison Chute and the two teams were deadlocked 1-1 at halftime.

2014 OUA and CIS player of the year Amanda Woodcroft regained Toronto's lead in the 41st minute off another corner chance and Lauren Sudac gave U of T a 3-1 lead in the 50th minute.

Lee added her second of the game off another corner opportunity four minutes later, but Guelph responded as Ciara Condon found the back of the net in the 56th minute.

Nicole Spring rounded out the scoring with a goal in the 59th minute.

The Blues went onto defeat the Waterloo Warriors 3-1 in their second game of the day. 

Down 1-0 in the early goings, fourth-year forward Emma Stairs scored off a penalty corner to even the score in the 18th minute.  Fifth-year forward Ally Evanyshyn then scored two goals and Sara Fredo turned aside anything that came her way.

Source: Toronto Varsity Blues

Gryphons Open Season with 10-0 Over Martlets

Guelph, ON – After an impressive preseason, the Gryphons Field Hockey team kept the momentum rolling into the regular season with a big win on home turf Saturday afternoon. The Gryphons won 10-0 over the McGill Martlets.
 
The Gryphons were led by Senior Erin Houle who recorded a hat trick. Moon Weijens, who is in her first year with the Gryphons, scored twice. Other goal scorers were Daniela Jelec, Crysta Stubbs, Ciara Condon, Olivia Lane and Allison Chute.
 
Guelph will play twice more on Sunday with a 10:45am matchup with U of T followed by a 2:15pm afternoon matchup with Queen's.

Source: Guelph Gryphons

Gryphons split pair of games Sunday, improve to 2-1 on season

Guelph, ON – The Gryphons Field Hockey team split a pair of games on Sunday afternoon on home field, losing to U of T and then beating Queen's. The Gryphons finish the weekend with a 2-1 record after having defeated McGill on Saturday.

In Game 1 against the Varsity Blues the Gryphons found themselves locked in a tight, competitive battle during the first half against the defending OUA Champions. With one minute remaining in the opening half, All-Star Ally Chute (Greenfield Park, QC) scored for the Gryphons to tie the game at 1-1. In the second half however, the Varsity Blues would score three goals in a span of 13 minutes to take a 4-1 lead. Ciara Condon (London, ON) got one back for the Gryphons, but it was as close as they'd get as U of T added one more late to take it by a final of 5-2.

In Game 2 against Queen's, second year standout Olivia Lane (Guelph, ON) got the Gryphons on the board just two minutes into the contest. Despite some great goaltending by the Gales, the Gryphons eventually add to their lead. Goals from Ally Chute and a second from Lane allowed the Gryphs to take a 3-1 lead at the half. Rookie Katherine MacMillan (Kitchener, ON) put away two in the second half while Nicole Paola (Waterloo, ON) rounded out the scoring on a 6-0 Guelph victory.

The Gryphons (2-1) will next be in action on Tuesday night (Sept. 22) when they travel to London to face the Western Mustangs (1-1).

Source: Guelph Gryphons

Lions open season with victory over Mustangs

The York University Lions field hockey team split two games against the Western Mustangs and Waterloo Warriors on Saturday (Sept.19) in Guelph, Ont., as part of its season-opening weekend.
 
The Lions started their 2015 season with a commanding victory over the Mustangs by a score of 3-1. After a scoreless first half, the Lions got on the board five minutes into the second on a goal by Michelle Per (Port Moody, B.C.), last year's team-leading scorer.
 
Seven minutes later the Lions doubled their lead when rookie Jade Robertson (Coquitlam, B.C.) scored the first goal of her career for a 2-0 York advantage.
 
In the 61^st minute the Mustangs finally got on the scoreboard themselves on a goal by Nicole Mills to cut the lead to 2-1, but Ravneet Kalkat (Mississauga, Ont.) found the back of the net minutes before the final whistle for the two-goal win.
 
The second game on Saturday, against Waterloo, was played in rainy conditions that delayed the game for a period of time, but they finally got it going and once action resumed the Lions allowed a quick goal to the Warriors just two minutes in, scored by Stephanie Snyder. The Lions battled for the equalizer but could not find it and fell by the 1-0 score.
 
The Lions will host the rest of the OUA next weekend in a series of games and will play three themselves, beginning with a contest against the Guelph Gryphons, the reigning OUA silver medallists. The match is set to begin at 9am at York Stadium.

Source: York Lions

Warriors show positive signs in opening weekend action

The Waterloo field hockey team opened up their 2015 campaign with a triple set in Guelph going 1-1-1 over those three games in competition with Queen's, York and Toronto. 

On a windy and rainy Saturday in Guelph, Waterloo took to the field to battle the Queen's Gaels in their opening contest and the black and gold couldn't have imagined a better start as Stephanie Snyder (Waterloo) opened the scoring in the 4^th minute to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead.  The Warriors continued to press early and often in the opening half but could not beat Gaels keeper Amanda Thoo.

Queen's would shift the momentum in the second half and in the final minute of teh game tallied the equalizer on a goal by Olivia Folick.  The two combatants would search for the go-ahead goal but would have to settle for the draw.  Hilary Neeb (Wellesley) was solid for Waterloo in net earning the Warriors their first point of the season.

Waterloo would have to wait for the rain to settle to open up their second game on Saturday but once it got going, the Warriors got off to another quick start as Snyder once again gave the black and gold a 1-0 lead over the York Lions in the 2^nd minute. Snyder netted her second of the season on a penalty stroke.  This time the Waterloo defence would stand tall and Neeb would secure the shutout to give Waterloo their first win of the season by a score of 1-0.

The Warriors returned to Guelph on Sunday to battle one of the top teams in the OUA, the Toronto Varsity Blues.  For the third straight game Waterloo scored in the first five minutes of the match as Jenna Remedios (Ajax) put Waterloo ahead 1-0 in the 3^rd minute with her first goal the season.  Remedios finished off a great passing play with a shot inside the left post.  Toronto would however respond in the 17^th minute as Tegan Stairs made it a 1-1 game. 

The Blues went ahead eight minutes later as Ally Evanyshyn scored in the 25^th minute to put Toronto up 2-1.  Waterloo battled hard into the second half looking for the equalizer but the Blues put the game out of reach with an insurance marker in the 60^th minute off the stick of Evanyshyn once again handing the Warriors their first loss of the season.  Despite the loss Waterloo showed tremendous poise and improvement after falling to Toronto 4-0 in pre-season action just a week prior.

The Warriors will be back in action next weekend with a pair of games at York as they battle Western (10:45am) and McGill (4pm).  Follow @UWFieldHockey for updated.

Source: Waterloo Warriors