The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's hockey team takes on the Nipissing Lakers in a best-of-three OUA quarter-final series this week.
The Blues host Game 1 in our Under Armour Game of the Week on Wednesday night (Feb. 20) at 7 p.m. at Varsity Arena.
Game 1: Wednesday, February 20 at Toronto 7:00 p.m.
Game 2: Friday, February 22 at Nipissing 7:30 p.m.
Game 3: Sunday, February 24 at Toronto 4:00 p.m.
The Blues finished the regular season with a 13-6-2-3 record (W-L-OTW-OTL) in third place in the OUA, going 8-1-2-2 since the December exam break. The Lakers earned the No. 6 seed with a 9-7-5-3 record, but have gone 4-4-1-2 in 2019.
Toronto took the season series, defeating Nipissing 3-0 on Oct. 20 in North Bay, before notching a 2-1 overtime victory at home on Jan. 20.
The two teams have only met once in the post-season since Nipissing joined the league in 2013-14. The Lakers won a best-of-three semifinal series, 2-0, in 2017.
Fifth-year forward Lauren Straatman led the Blues offensively this season, ranking second in the OUA with 15 assists and fifth with 23 points. Fellow veteran forward Kassie Roache led U of T and ranked third in the province with 14 goals.
Erica Fryer has been a huge factor in Toronto's winter success. The rookie netminder has posted a 1.13 goals against average and a .937 save percentage in 12 starts in the latter half of the season.
A large part of the Blues success has come from special teams. U of T boasts the No. 1 powerplay in the OUA with a 24.5% efficiency, while also ranking second on the penalty kill (93.2%).
Veteran forwards Kaley Tienhaara and Jetta Derenoski lead the Lakers after notching 18 and 19 points, respectively, in 24 regular season games.
Sophomore goalie Danika Ranger has started 19-of-24 games for Nipissing, posting a .928 save percentage in the process.
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