AROUND OUA: Western to host Windsor, Queen's and UOIT in OUA Final Four

SCOREBOARD

Windsor 1 @ York 0

Guelph 0 @ Western 1

Ottawa 0 @ Queen's 1

Laurentian 0 @ UOIT 2

Western to host OUA Final Four after quarterfinal win over Guelph

LONDON, Ont. – Strong performances from Sabrina De Nard and Megan Girardi helped lead the Mustangs to a 1-0 win over the Guelph Gryphons on Sunday afternoon, with the OUA Quarterfinal matchup being decided via penalty kicks.
 
"I'm just really happy and excited for the girls. They worked really hard all season," said Western head coach Martin Painter. "Credit to Guelph, they're a tough team and it was a tough game, but I think overall we deserved the win."
 
Western's win means that the Mustangs will host the OUA Final Four, which will take place next week, beginning on Friday at Mustangs Field.
 
After their second place finish during the regular season, the Mustangs found themselves having a bye through the first round of the playoffs earlier this week, and looked to continue their winning ways against the Gryphons in the quarterfinals.
 
The defences for both sides stood out in the match, as both teams were held scoreless for not only the first ninety minutes, but for extra time as well, leading to the game being decided via penalty kicks. Fifth-year defender Sabrina De Nard led Western for the entire game with constant energy, battling for every ball, and eventually scoring in the shootout to keep Western alive.
 
"She was just incredible," said Painter, praising De Nard's performance and versatility on the field. "She was the best player on the field today, with her toughness, her leadership, her qualities on both sides of the ball. Offensively and defensively, she was just fantastic."
 
"[De Nard] covers for me a lot. She saved the game there, so I can thank her for that. She's always been strong back there," remarked Girardi, referencing an amazing play by De Nard where she kicked the ball off of the Mustangs' goal line in overtime to save the game.
 
In the shootout, Guelph's goaltender Elizabeth Brenneman, who had just carried the team in another set of penalty kicks against Laurier just four days prior, stood in net for the Gryphons versus Girardi. Girardi stood tall in the Mustangs net, and Western came through with four goals, with De Nard, Grace Grafham, Jenna White, and Stefanie Di Tella each finding the back of the net to give the Mustangs a 4-2 edge in penalty kicks and the 1-0 match win.
 
"It feels really nice to make the saves and be there to support the team for all the times they've backed me up. It was a big win," said Girardi.
 
Painter also had praise for Guelph's goaltender, saying "she's a great goalkeeper, and we knew that going in. We came close on a number of occasions, she made a couple good saves, and on penalty shots she's very strong, but we were prepared for that and we executed."
 
With the win over the Gryphons, the Mustangs will now host the OUA Final Four, where they'll take on the Queen's Gaels in the semi-finals on Friday at 7 p.m. at Mustangs Field.

Source: Western Mustangs

Windsor beats top seeded York in shootout to advance to OUA Final Four

For the second straight game it took a shoot-out to determine who would advance in the OUA women's soccer post season. And for second straight game, the Lancer women's soccer team came out on top to advance to the next round.
 
Sunday saw the Blue & Gold upset the No. 1 seed York Lions 1-0 in a shoot-out at York Stadium in Toronto, and they will now head up to Western for the Final Four next weekend.
 
After a scoreless 90 minutes of regulation and an overtime that saw nothing solved, the Lancers went 4/4 in the shootout to secure the victory.

Scoring in the shootout were Cassie Chretien, Giulia Barile, Chelsea Zavitz, and Jaclyn Faraci, the same four goal scorers from Wednesday's first round victory over McMaster.
 
Following a standout weekend on the ice with the women's hockey team that saw her score three goals, Krystin Lawrence made 10 saves in net to earn the shutout and help the Lancers advance.
 
Stay tuned to goLancers.ca for more information on the Final Four.

Source: Windsor Lancers

Overtime goal from Callendar sends Gaels to OUA Final Four

KINGSTON, Ont. (October 30, 2016) – The Gaels defeated the No.9 Ottawa Gee-Gees 1-0 in a hard fought game that required extra time.

Laura Callender (Ottawa) received the ball with her back to goal about 10 yards out, made a great turn to shake her defender, and made no mistake to find the back of the net in 109th minute.

GAME FLOW
The Gaels began the first half with a fast paced start, but struggled to keep possession of the ball in the offensive third. Queen's held their own against the aggressive Gee-Gees offense, keeping the score at 0-0. The strong tricolour defence kept Ottawa from getting to many chances on net. Lauren Winquist (London, Ont.) entered the game for Jenny Wolever (Toronto, Ont.) and had the best opportunity of the game so far, sprinting up the wing before challenging the goalie at the edge of the six yard box, but was unable to score. The first half ended with a stressful ordeal in front of the Gaels net. The Gee-Gees got the ball past Gaels keeper Madison Tyrell (White Rock, B.C.), but Erin Cliffe (Burlington, Ont.) got back to clear it off the line. The score remained 0-0 at the break with one save for each keeper.

The Gaels had many more shots during the second half and stepped up their game by playing more offensively. Brittany Almeida (Kingston, Ont.) sent a corner toward goal, which resulted with a scoring opportunity for Matija Skoko (Toronto, Ont.), but her shot sailed just high of the net. Callender took a beautiful shot from 30 yards out, which was headed for the top left corner of the Gee-Gees net, but Ottawa's keeper Margot Shore tipped the ball onto the crossbar, and it ricocheted into touch. The score remained 0-0 at the end of the second half and sent the game into extra time.

Queen's maintained their composure throughout the intense first period of extra time. Both teams had shots on goal, but the keepers stood tall and the game remained scoreless heading into the final 15 minutes.

It was in the second half of extra time that Callender put the Gaels ahead. After receiving a ball from Skoko to the left of goal, the Queen's midfielder beat her defender and dribbled across the face of goal before depositing the ball into the bottom left corner past the outstretched Ottawa keeper. The tricolour held on through the remaining minutes to advance to the OUA Final Four with a 1-0 win.

Source: Queen's Gaels

Ridgebacks defeat Voyageurs to advance to the OUA final four

OSHAWA, Ont. – The UOIT women's soccer team punched their ticket to the OUA final four on Saturday afternoon with a 2-0 victory over the Laurentian Voyageurs at Civic Fields.
 
This marks the second time in the five-year history of the program that the Ridgebacks have advanced to the final four. The Ridgebacks other trip to the provincial championship came back in 2014 in Hamilton where the team won a bronze medal, their first in program history.
 
UOIT does not know who their opponent will be in the semifinal or where it will be taking place because all other three quarter-final match-ups are taking place on Sunday.

The Ridgebacks controlled Saturday's match, outshooting the Voyageurs 19-3 including 10-1 in the first half. Despite the lopsided shot total in the opening 45 minutes, UOIT and Laurentian went into the break scoreless.
 
It wasn't until the 57th minute when Nicole Zajac (Mississauga, Ont.) broke the deadlock when she banked in perfectly placed cross from Jessica Mithrush (Thunder Bay, Ont.) to give the Ridgebacks a 1-0 lead.
 
Ten minutes later, UOIT's Taijah Henderson (Ajax, Ont.) would extend the Ridgebacks lead to 2-0 on a great solo effort. Henderson raced by a Laurentian defender and beat goalkeeper Dina Mandolesi one-on-one.
 
UOIT continued to apply a lot of offensive pressure but Mandolesi made a number of key stops to keep Laurentian within striking distance. She would end up with seven saves in the match. Cassandra Sribny (Pickering, Ont.) would end up with five shots while Zajac had four.

At the other end of the pitch, Helen Frampton (Toronto, Ont.) stopped all three Laurentian shots on target for the clean sheet. Frampton looked confident over the 90-minute game coming out to challenge Laurentian shooters and taking away a number of scoring opportunities.
 
On Sunday, Queen's will be hosting Ottawa in the other eastern conference quarter-final while Windsor/York and Guelph/Western make up the western conference match-ups.
 
Saturday's match at the civic marked the final home game with the program for four original Ridgebacks. Mithrush, Kylie Bordeleau (Cambridge, Ont.), Sara Voisin (Waterloo, Ont.) and Jamie Ryan (Ottawa, Ont.), all who played in the program's first year were honoured by head coach Peyvand Mossavat prior to the game.
 
QUICK LOOK AT THE RIDGEBACKS
Overall Record: 17-2-1
Conference Record: 13-2-1

Source: UOIT Ridgebacks