Quest for the McCaw Cup continues tonight with quarter-finals

BURLINGTON, Ont. – The Judy McCaw Memorial Cup is once again set to be awarded to the OUA women's hockey champion, with five of the eight participating teams looking hoist the trophy for the first time since it's rededication in 1972. Quarter-final action will get underway Wednesday, Feb. 24, and conclude no later than Sunday, Feb. 28.

(1) Guelph Gryphons (17-4-2-1) vs. (8) Laurentian Voyageurs (8-3-11-2)

Entering the McCaw Cup playoffs on an 11 game winning streak, finishing first in the conference by 12 points, or currently holding the No. 1 ranking in the CIS Top Ten; being categorized under just one of these titles generally gives you a respectable shot at a postseason title. But when you carry all three, you're flat-out expected to bring home a championship.

This is the expectation for the Gryphons in this year's pursuit of the McCaw Cup, as they were a force at both ends of the ice for the 2015-16 regular season.

The Gryphons allowed the least goals against per game, thanks in large part to the monster numbers put up by goaltender Valerie Lamenta (Montreal, Que.), who sported a goals against average of 0.99 and a .957 save percentage, both tops in the nation.

On offence, Guelph boasts four of the top 10 point leaders in OUA, all of which are key contributors to their league-leading 3.25 goals per game.  The Gryphons goals per game average is almost a half goal more than the next closest team. Leading the way for the Gryphons in goals and points is the fourth leading goal scorer in the league, Averi Nooran (Aylmer, Ont.), with 14 and 25, respectively. Rounding out the four are Kelly Gribbons (Port Elgin, Ont.) and Jessica Pinkerton (Oshawa, Ont.), both of which are tied with 23 points, and Christine Grant (Mississauga, Ont.) with 21 points.

The Voyageurs, who will be making their McCaw Cup postseason debut this season, saw their win percentage more than triple from a year ago. Laurentian had no problem developing offence this season, as they averaged the second most shots per game with 30.6.  But with the second lowest goals per game total among playoff teams, they will need to capitalize more on their chances if they hope to pull off the upset and take down the top ranked team in the country. Leading the Voyageurs is fifth-year captain Julie Hebert (Chelmsford, Ont.) with 17 points, including 11 goals, which is good for ninth in the league.

Guelph won the season series 1-1-0-0, but with one of those games being a 3-2 overtime victory, the Voyageurs showed they are able to keep pace with the top seeded Gryphons.

(2) Toronto Varsity Blues (12-4-4-4) vs. (7) Laurier Golden Hawks (10-3-9-2)

With only 10 points separating the two teams, the key to victory in this matchup could potentially come down to special teams, as Toronto boasted OUA's best penalty kill percentage, to go along with the league's third best power-play.

The Varsity Blues hold the No. 4 spot in the CIS Top Ten, and feature OUA's second leading goal scorer, Taylor Day (Ilderton, Ont.), who notched 15 goals, to go along with 10 assists. Sonja Widenfelder (Toronto, Ont.) was second on the team with 20 points, as the two front a group of seven double-digit point getters who helped the Blues secure the third most goals per game at 2.58.

The Golden Hawks will enter the series hoping recent history will play a factor, as they edged out the Blues in the 2013-14 playoffs, 2-1. They will be leaning heavily upon fifth-year veteran Jessie Hurrell (Palgrave, Ont.), who was 11^th in OUA scoring with 20 points. Also playing a large role for Laurier will be netminder Amanda Smith (Burlington, Ont.), who must maintain her strong play of late if the Golden Hawks hope to counteract the Blues' potent offence. Smith had a goals against average of 1.46 and a save percentage of .948, both good for third among goaltenders in OUA.

Either the Blues or the Golden Hawks have won the Judy McCaw Memorial Cup in 14 of the last 17 championships, with the Golden Hawks winning nine of the last 12.

The Varsity Blues won both games they played against the Golden Hawks this season, but with the final showcase between the two being a overtime thriller less than two weeks ago, this is anything but your classic No. 2 vs. No. 7 matchup.

(3) Western Mustangs (14-1-8-1) vs. (6) Waterloo Warriors (12-2-9-1)

The Mustangs will enter playoffs as defending champions, having won the McCaw Cup for the first time in the program's history last year. With wins in their last three games, the No. 7 ranked team in Canada will be looking to once again make it back to the big dance.

Western boast an offensively talented backend, which includes three players in the top 10 in OUA scoring by a defenceman: Brianna Iazzolino (Thunder Bay, Ont.), Anthea Lasis (Toronto, Ont.) and Brittany Clapham (Tottenham, Ont.), with the latter leading OUA in the category with 19 points in 24 games. All this offence did not translate to a lack of defensive zone prominence, as the Mustangs ranked second in the league in goals against average, averaging just 1.51 goals against per game. This was also due to the play between the pipes for the Mustangs, specifically that of starting goalie Kelly Campbell (St. Thomas, Ont.), who started in all but three games, fielding a save percentage of .948, third best in OUA.  

Campbell played a pivotal role in last year's finals win, recording a shutout and taking home Harrow Player of the Game honours. Also playing an important role in that game and returning to the Mustangs is Kendra Broad (Petrolia, Ont.), who scored the game winning goal, and leads the team's forwards with 18 points in 18 games.

The Warriors actually edged out the higher seeded Mustangs on offence throughout the regular season, averaging a slightly better goals per game total. Waterloo has three forwards who finished in the top 15 in scoring: Paula LaGamba (Toronto, Ont.), captain Kaitlyn McDonell (Kincardine, Ont.), and Marissa Redmond (Ajax, Ont.). LaGamba and McDonell will graduate at the end of the season and bringing the first McCaw Cup back with them to the University of Waterloo would be a great way to cap outstanding OUA careers.

Western took home two regulation victories against Waterloo this season, however, both games were decided by just one goal.

(4) Queen's Gaels (13-2-7-2) vs. (5) Nipissing Lakers (12-1-5-6)

The Gaels will be looking to make it three OUA championships in the past six seasons, but standing in their way as the first obstacle in doing so will be the Nipissing Lakers, who posted similar numbers throughout the season.

With the most PIM in the league this season, the Lakers will have to stay out of the box against the Gaels, as the latter had OUA's best power-play during the regular season, scoring 21.1% of the time with the extra-skater advantage. If the Lakers are able to do so, it'll vastly improve their chances of winning, as one-third of the Gaels' goals came while on the power-play.

But playing a disciplined game will far from solidify a victory for the Lakers, as they will be facing one of the top goaltenders in OUA, Caitlyn Lahonen (Saskatoon, Sask.), who had the second best goals against average and save percentage in the league, at 1.42 and .949, respectively. These numbers led to Queen's having the third lowest goals against average in the league, with a 1.63 mark.

Leading the Gaels up front will be OUA's second leading goal scorer Katrina Manoukarakis (Scarborough, Ont.), who put 15 goals in the back of the net during her rookie season. She also finished in the top five with 25 points.

The Lakers will enter the series on an emotional high, having played to the school's highest finish in their short history. The two teams split their meetings during the regular season with Queen's winning 3-2 in OT on Oct. 24 and the Lakers returning the favour with a 3-2 win at home Feb. 5.

Nipissing will look to Brooklyn Irwin (Ayton, Ont.) and Jade Gauthier (Callander, Ont.) to maintain their success against Queen's, as the forwards each notched two goals in the contests between the teams, with Gauthier also adding an assist.

Each series leading up to the final is a best-of-three format, with the McCaw Cup final being a single game championship.

Catch the action live throughout the McCaw Cup playoffs, live on OUA.tv.