The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's hockey team takes on the Guelph Gryphons in a best-of-three OUA semifinal series this week.

Series Schedule

Date	Visitor	Home	Time	Location	Media
Wednesday, February 25	Toronto	Guelph	7:30 p.m.	Gryphon Centre	Live Video Live Stats
Friday, February 27	Guelph	Toronto	7:30 p.m.	Varsity Arena	Live Video Live Stats
Sunday, February 29 *if necessary	Toronto	Guelph	2:00 p.m.	Gryphon Centre	Live Video Live Stats

 









A Head-to-Head Look

The Blues finished tied with the Queen's Gaels for third place with identical 16-5-3 records, but finish fourth based on head-to-head competition. Toronto defeated the fifth-seeded Windsor Lancers two games to none in quarter-final action.

The Gryphons placed second overall in the OUA standings with an 18-3-3 record and defeated the seventh-place Ryerson Rams, also in two games, in their quarter-final series last week.

Toronto went 1-0-1 versus Guelph during the regular season. The Blues defeated the Gryphons 3-2 in a shootout on Oct. 18 at home, before dropping a 2-1 shootout decision at Guelph on Jan. 15.

The Blues are 12-3-2 versus the Gryphons in post-season action since 1992. The last time the two teams met, Guelph defeated Toronto 2-1 in overtime in a single-game quarter-final in the 2010-11 season. The two teams also faced each other in an OUA semifinal series in the 2007-08 season, with Toronto coming out on top, two games to none.

The winner of the semifinal series will take on the winner of the Western/Laurier semifinal for the OUA title next week. Both semifinal winners will also earn berths into the 2015 CIS championship, March 12-15, in Calgary.

Varsity Blues

Fifth-year goaltender and 2014 CIS all-Canadian Nicole Kesteris finished the regular season ranked third in the province with a .938 save percentage.

After earning a silver medal with Team Canada at the 2015 Winter Universiade in Grenada, Spain, Kesteris returned to play both games versus Windsor in Round 1, accumulating 60 saves and ranking third in the postseason with a .952 save percentage.

In her absence, sophomore Katey Teekasingh stood between the pipes. The Toronto native holds a .912 save percentage in six games played.

Third-year forward Kristi Riseley led Toronto's offence with a team-high 11 goals, while also adding nine assists for 20 points. Fourth-year veteran Sonja Weidenfelder has notched nine goals and nine assists, while Amanda Ricker leads the squad with 12 assists. Ricker led the Blues with three points in Round 1.

Ilderton, Ont., native Taylor Day is also a threat to score, having tallied 11 points in 17 games this season. She was the overtime hero in Toronto's 2-1 Game 2 win over Windsor this past Saturday.

Guelph Gryphons

Veteran goaltender Stephanie Nehring has had a solid season, leading the OUA with a 1.18 goals against average and ranking second with a .947 save percentage in 18 regular season games.

Forward Jessica Pinkerton led the squad with 16 assists and 24 points, while Kaitlyn Mora tallied a team-high 10 goals, accumulating 21 points this season.

Christine Grant scored seven goals and added 12 assts in 24 games, while Averi Nooren also notched nine goals during the regular season.

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