Gaels, Golden Hawks and Lions head to Ottawa for the OUA Women's Soccer Final Four Championship

BURLINGTON, Ont. – Since the 2009 season, four teams have been crowned OUA women's soccer champions: the York Lions, Laurier Golden Hawks, Queen's Gaels and University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.  All four teams will take to the pitch in our nation's capital this weekend looking to once again hoist the OUA banner. 

The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees were the beasts of the East again this year, dominating the division en route to an undefeated 13-0-3 regular season record and will host this weekend's OUA Final Four championship.

OUA East MVP Pilar Khoury (Ottawa, Ont.) and first team all-star Cynthia Leblanc (Granby, Que.) have collected a trophy case full of awards between them, amassing eight OUA first-team all-star nods, two division MVP awards and a pair of OUA championship banners.  The duo of fifth-year standouts have been the bookends to a Gee-Gees squad looking to repeat as OUA champions.  Leblanc lead the conference in save percentage and goals against average this season, while Khoury and follow first-team midfielder Julia Francki (Orleans, Ont.) paced the Ottawa offence with 11 goals apiece.  Hannah Landry (Elmsdale, N.S.) and Kayla Da Costa-Pacheco (Gatineau, Que.) both received first-team bids for their defensive efforts, leading a unit that only allowed eight goals to get behind them this season.

The defending champion Gee-Gees survived a score in the quarter-finals from their cross-town rivals, the Carleton Ravens, narrowly escaping with a 4-3 overtime win. Francki opened up the scoring just eight minutes in, while rookie Ellie Cowan (Barrie, Ont.) netted two goals for Ottawa in regulation only to see the Ravens match them point for point. It was fitting that Khoury was the one to seal the deal in the 100^th minute to advance Ottawa to a matchup this weekend with Laurier.

Advancing to the Final Four as a top seed usually gives you an easier semifinal matchup, but for Ottawa it will be unreasonably tough. Despite a second place finish in the OUA West, the Laurier Golden Hawks are a powerhouse in their own right.

Led by OUA first-team all-stars Emily Brown (Waterloo, Ont.) and Nicole Lyon (Kitchener, Ont.), who both notched 13 goals apiece, the Golden Hawks lost only two games this season. Brown, who has collected a plethora of personal awards over the course of her OUA career, scored the Golden Hawks only goal against Windsor to knock off the Lancers en route to their ninth-straight Final Four appearance.

Laurier will also look to second-team all-stars Jacky Normandeau (Uxbridge, Ont.), Katie Bishop (Surrey, B.C.) and Julie Karn (Waterloo, Ont.) to lead the purple and gold this weekend, while hoping that West Rookie of the Year Gagan Parhar (Surrey, B.C.) has a little playoff magic in store on the biggest stage.  In net Ashley Almeida (Burlington, Ont.) turned aside every shot she faced in their opening matchup and appears poised for another big game this weekend.

The York Lions walked through the West and finished the year sitting undefeated atop the division at 15-0-1. 

Striker Nour Ghoneim (Aurora, Ont.) put together a second straight OUA West MVP season and the first-team all-star will lead the Lions into our nation's capital this weekend. Ghoneim, a former CIS Rookie of the Year, led the nation in scoring this season with 18 goals, while starting in all 16 games for York.

The Lions are close to comprising a fantasy roster, as six of their players were selected to all-star teams this season. At midfield, Sarah Wong (Toronto, Ont.) and Marilyn Grammenopoulos (Whitby, Ont.) were selected to the first-team, while Sydney Hoareau (Brampton, Ont.) was added to the second team. Wong had two goals in the Lions quarter-final win over Guelph, advancing them to the Final Four, where they will take on the Queen's Gaels. Defenders Tomika McIntosh (Bradford, Ont.) and Shannon Wood (Brampton, Ont.) have anchored a defence only allowed seven goals against during the regular season, while in net Taylor Grant (Brampton, Ont.) has been stout for York, collecting eight shutouts on the season.

The Queen's Gaels have covered the most ground on their way to the Final Four, finishing the season fifth in the OUA East with a record of 7-2-7.

That meant the Gaels had to play an extra game, a 1-0 overtime opening round win against the University of Toronto Varsity Blues to advance to the quarter-finals. From there they would head to Sudbury, Ont., for a showdown with the second-seed Laurentian Voyageurs.  Thanks to goals from Tara Bartram (Vancouver, B.C.) and second team all-star Micah Vermeer (Grimsby, Ont.), the Gaels would pull off the upset to advance to the Final Four.

Despite sitting fifth in the East, the Gaels only lost two games during the regular season, having drawn even in seven of their matchups.  This will play to their advantage as they know how to play a full 90 minutes of smart soccer, and in an environment where ties don't exist, Queen's has the potential to push teams past their usual boundaries.

Jessie de Boer (North Vancouver, B.C.) led the Gaels with eight goals this year along with picking up first-team honours, while forward Jenny Wolever (Toronto, Ont.), midfielder Lidia Bradau (Woodbridge, Ont.), joins Vermeer on the second-team.

Goalie Michaila Frawley (Victoria, B.C.) has only allowed one goal in two playoff games this year, and will need to continue her strong play if the Gaels hope to pull off their third (and possibly fourth) consecutive playoff upset.

This will be the sixth Final Four appearance for the Gaels in seven years, with their best finish coming in 2011-12 when they took home both the OUA and CIS championship.  de Boer had just joined Queen's that season and was named OUA East Rookie of the Year before collecting the major hardware. Taking home another trophy in her final year of eligibility would be a perfect way to cap off her OUA career.

All games of the Final Four championship will be live streamed on OUA.tv from the Minto Sports Complex Fitness Centre on the campus of the University of Ottawa. 

On Saturday, November 7^th, at 11:00 a.m. Queen's will take on York in the first semifinal matchup, followed at 2:00 p.m. with Laurier battling Ottawa.  The winner of both semifinal games will advance to the gold medal game on Sunday at 2:00 p.m., while the other teams will battle for bronze to start the day at 11:00 a.m. 

With the CIS championship being hosted this year by the UBC Thunderbirds, both semifinal winners will also advance to the national tournament.