The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's hockey team battles the OUA defending champion Western Mustangs in the OUA semifinals in a best-of-three series this week.
 
Game 1: Wednesday, February 27 at Western 7:00 p.m.
Game 2: Friday, March 1 at Toronto 7:00 p.m.
Game 3: Saturday, March 2 at Western 2:30 p.m.
 
The winner of this series will receive a berth into the 2019 U SPORTS national championships, March 14-17, in P.E.I. They will also face the winner of Guelph/Ryerson in the McCaw Cup final on Saturday, March 9.
 
Thanks in large part to fifth-year forward Kassie Roache's hat trick, the Blues defeated the Nipissing Lakers 3-2 in Game 3, to take the quarter-final series 2-1. It marked the fourth time in the past six seasons U of T advanced the OUA semifinals. Western on the other hand only needed two of the three games to take down the Waterloo Warriors in their first round match-up.
 
The season series was tied at 1-1. The Mustangs took the first game, 5-3, on Oct. 27 in Toronto before the Blues snagged a 3-2 shootout victory on Jan. 6 in London.
 
This matchup marks the second straight time these two squads will face off in the playoffs. Last year, the Blues were swept by the Mustangs, 2-0, in a best-of-three in the quarter-finals.
 
Toronto will rely on their balance attack to get by Western. Five different Blues found the back of the net in their first round series and need that type of offence to continue this week. In the two games this season against Western, U of T led in the shot department on both occasions by a significant margin (56-32).
 
The key will be to solve Mustangs goaltender Carmen Lasis consistently. The second-year goalie was a catalyst for Western's championship success last year. The Toronto native has allowed more than two goals only four times in 22 starts this campaign. She ranked fourth in the province in both goals-against average (1.49) and save percentage (.941) during the regular season.
 
Special teams has been and will continue to be a game changer for Toronto. The OUA's top power play recorded a goal in every game against Nipissing. The penalty kill was also very effective killing all 12 power plays the Lakers had during the series.  
 
Erica Fryer is a huge piece to Toronto's success. In Game 3, the first-year goalie made a couple of massive saves to help hand the Blues the victory in the first round. The Amherstburg, Ont., native has to continue to be the driving force for the Blues in this series. She has only given up more than two goals in three of 21 starts, which includes playoffs.
 
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