February 27, 2006
GRYPHS AND BLUES EARN FINAL FOUR BERTHS
The OUA Women's Hockey Final Four has a familiar look to it look in 2006. With the Laurier Golden Hawks and Queen's Golden Gaels both earning byes following their one-two finish in the regular season, two spots remained for the semi-finals in St. Catharines, ON (March 3-5). The Toronto Varsity Blues booked their spot with a 2-0 quarter-final win over the Windsor Lancers, making it three-for-three in terms of returnees from the 2005 Final Four. But there is a newcomer to the foursome - the Guelph Gryphons earned themselves a spot among the best four teams in the province when they defeated the Brock Badgers 3-1 Saturday.
The Gryphons (9-8-6-1 regular season) entered the playoffs with the painful memory of a heartbreaking 5-4 OT defeat to the Golden Gaels in 2005 quarter-final action. But Guelph was never in trouble against the Brock Badgers (9-10-5-0), who desperately needed a win to advance to the Final Four on their own turf in St. Catharines. The Gryphons built an early 2-0 in the first period on goals from Arden Sullivan and Michelle Chartier before third-year defenseman Bianca Kitts iced the game in the second with an incredible individual effort. Kitts took the puck at her own blueline and skated through the Badgers, finishing the play with a low, hard shot that beat Brock's Angie Mallory. Guelph goaltender Aleisha Lusk turned away 21 of 22 shots to earn the win between the pipes and a semi-final match-up with the No. 2 nationally-ranked Golden Hawks. Briar Komenda scored the lone Brock goal, while OUA MVP and league scoring leader Kate Allgood was held pointless in the game.
Toronto (12-7-3-2, third in the OUA in the regular season) secured yet another trip to the Final Four with a solid 2-0 home win against the Windsor Lancers, Saturday. Fifth-year Mississauga, ON native Lisa Robertson made 20 saves for a timely shutout, including 10 stops in the third period alone with the desperate Lancers trying to rally. The veteran Blues showed an uncharacteristic lack of discipline early against Windsor but they picked up the effort and went hard to the net, which produced a pair of goals from Laura Foster and Lyndsey Ryan. Despite the late flurry, Windsor couldn't manufacture a goal. The win sets up a meeting between Toronto and the Golden Gaels in the other semi-final. The two OUA powers tied 1-1 when they last met in the regular season on January 28.
(Photo: Guelph's Meg howat, right, ties up Brock's Heather Goemans in the corner. Phot by Shannon Baskin.)
The Gryphons (9-8-6-1 regular season) entered the playoffs with the painful memory of a heartbreaking 5-4 OT defeat to the Golden Gaels in 2005 quarter-final action. But Guelph was never in trouble against the Brock Badgers (9-10-5-0), who desperately needed a win to advance to the Final Four on their own turf in St. Catharines. The Gryphons built an early 2-0 in the first period on goals from Arden Sullivan and Michelle Chartier before third-year defenseman Bianca Kitts iced the game in the second with an incredible individual effort. Kitts took the puck at her own blueline and skated through the Badgers, finishing the play with a low, hard shot that beat Brock's Angie Mallory. Guelph goaltender Aleisha Lusk turned away 21 of 22 shots to earn the win between the pipes and a semi-final match-up with the No. 2 nationally-ranked Golden Hawks. Briar Komenda scored the lone Brock goal, while OUA MVP and league scoring leader Kate Allgood was held pointless in the game.
Toronto (12-7-3-2, third in the OUA in the regular season) secured yet another trip to the Final Four with a solid 2-0 home win against the Windsor Lancers, Saturday. Fifth-year Mississauga, ON native Lisa Robertson made 20 saves for a timely shutout, including 10 stops in the third period alone with the desperate Lancers trying to rally. The veteran Blues showed an uncharacteristic lack of discipline early against Windsor but they picked up the effort and went hard to the net, which produced a pair of goals from Laura Foster and Lyndsey Ryan. Despite the late flurry, Windsor couldn't manufacture a goal. The win sets up a meeting between Toronto and the Golden Gaels in the other semi-final. The two OUA powers tied 1-1 when they last met in the regular season on January 28.
(Photo: Guelph's Meg howat, right, ties up Brock's Heather Goemans in the corner. Phot by Shannon Baskin.)
