The University of Toronto Varsity Blues earned their 27th provincial title, defeating the defending champion Guelph Gryphons 2-1 at the 2008 OUA Field Hockey Championship on Sunday, October 26 at Varsity Centre.
This marks the second championship in a row that the Blues have hosted at Varsity Centre, in which Toronto has defeated the Guelph Gryphons 2-1 – the first being the 2007 CIS championship title game.
Much like the earlier bronze medal game, all three goals came in the first half and the team that was trailing mounted a fierce attack to try and notch the tying goal. In this case, the Gryphons applied ample pressure in the final minutes but the Blues defence tightened up and kept their opponents at bay, hanging on for the thrilling 2-1 victory.
“It was a bittersweet win for us, as some of our key players are leaving us this year,” said Blues head coach John De Souza. “They are the heart and soul of this team and we will be sad to see them go.”
Among the graduating players are two-time OUA MVP and Blues most valuable player in the gold medal game Cailie O’Hara (Oakville, Ont.), and four-time OUA all-star Shannon Treacy (Burlington, Ont.).
“We’re happy we came away with the win but we are still not completely happy with how we played,” said O’Hara. “It wasn’t the perfect game we were looking for so hopefully we will improve in time for the CIS championship next weekend.”
Guelph controlled things early with some solid defensive play, forcing the Blues into their own end. OUA first team all-star Brienne Stairs (Kitchener, Ont.) scored the first goal of the game, sending a rebound over the head of Toronto goaltender Samantha Lyzun (West Vancouver, B.C.).
The Blues settled down and began to apply pressure. On their first corner opportunity, Toronto had two close-range scoring chances, but could not find a way past Guelph goalie Nadia Marques (Burlington, Ont.).
Toronto got on the board when fourth-year veteran and OUA first team all-star Kri Shier (North Vancouver, B.C.) sent a shot in, from just outside the circle, to teammate Katherine McNeill (West Vancouver, B.C.) who tipped it in to tie things up at 1-1.
The Gryphons came back with pressure of their own late in the half. Three short corners produced some good scoring opportunities with the last one flicked over the Blues net.
In the dying minute of the first half, Blues midfielder Shannon Treacy (Burlington, Ont.) sent a beautiful stick-to-stick pass to forward Kyesia O’Neale (Mississauga, Ont.) who one-timed it into the Gryphons net, giving the Blues a 2-1 at the midway point of the game.
The second half proved to be a nail-biting, back-and-forth battle as the Gryphons tried to pull even but the Blues were equally as determined to stop them.
Both Toronto and Guelph were down one player at different points in the half when Blues forward Rianna Sterk (Embro, Ont.) and Gryphons defender Megan Shewfelt (Tavistock, Ont.) were sent off for tackle penalties.
The Gryphons put forth a fantastic rallying effort and were awarded with three short corners in the last three minutes of the game, however, the Blues fought through and kept Guelph off the scoreboard, reclaiming the OUA championship with the 2-1 victory.
Scoring Summary
3rd, GUE, Brienne Stairs
14th, TOR, Katherine McNeill
34th, TOR, Kyesia O’Neale
TOR 2-0: 2
GUE 1-0: 1
Goaltenders
TOR: Samantha Lyzun (W, 70:00, 1 GA, 1-0)
GUE: Nadia Marques (L, 70:00, 2 GA, 1-1)
Players of the game
TOR: Cailie O’Hara (Oakville, Ont.)
GUE: Krissy Wishart (Hamilton, Ont.)
