The top-seeded University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's hockey team takes on the Guelph Gryphons in an OUA best-of-three quarter-final series starting this Wednesday night at Varsity Arena.
 
Series Schedule:
Game 1: Wednesday, February 19 | Guelph at Toronto | 7:00 p.m. | Varsity Arena
Game 2: Saturday, February 22 | Toronto at Guelph | 2:00 p.m. | Gryphon Centre
*Game 3: Sunday, February 23 | Guelph at Toronto | 7:00 p.m. | Varsity Arena
(*if necessary)
 
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"The playoffs are a whole new season," said Varsity Blues head coach Vicky Sunohara. "This is what you train for, play for and look forward to. We realize that our league is so tight.  In the regular season, everyone beat everyone regardless of the standings.  We are playing the defending national champions and are not taking anything for granted. We won't change our game plan and we will take it one shift at a time. If we play our team game with consistency, we will give ourselves the best chance to be successful."
 
The Varsity Blues finished a dominant 2019-20 regular season atop the OUA standings with a 17-4-0-0 (W-L-OTW-OTL) record, eight points ahead of the pack. It will be a rematch of the 2019 McCaw Cup final, but the OUA and U SPORTS defending champion Gryphons finished in eighth place with a 10-8-2-2 record this season.
 
The two teams split the regular season series with Toronto notching a 3-2 shootout victory at home on Nov. 1, before dropping a 3-0 decision at Guelph on Jan. 5.
 
The Blues boasted the fewest goals against, allowing just 31 in 24 regular season games. That is thanks in large part to the 1-2 punch of Blues netminders Madeline Albert and Erica Fryer.
 
The duo ranked first and second in the league with 0.84 and 1.29 goals against averages, respectively, while Albert led the OUA with a .964 save percentage and Fryer topped the province with a .786 win percentage.
 
Much of Toronto's success has also come from special teams. The Blues boast the top-ranked powerplay in the league with a 20.2% efficiency, while also ranking third on the penalty kill (91.1%).
 
The De Serres sisters have led the team offensively. Gabrielle notched a team-high eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points, while Mathilde scored five goals and added 12 assists for 17 points. Five other players hit double-digit points, with second-year forward Taylor Trussler leading the team with four powerplay goals.
 
Despite finishing in eighth place, the Gryphons notched the fourth-most goals in the OUA and hold the fourth-best powerplay (14.2%). Similar to the Blues, their offence comes by committee with Karlie Shell leading the squad with 11 assists and 15 points.
 
Sophomore forward Gabriele Underwood led the team in scoring with eight goals, while Aurore Beaulieu has assumed the starting position between the pipes, holding a .906 save percentage in 17 games.
 
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