The No. 6 seeded University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's hockey team defeated the No. 3 University of New Brunswick Reds 2-1 in the quarter-finals of the 2024 GFL U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship, presented by Connect Energy,  at Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon, Sask. 
 
With the win, the Blues make their way back to the final four of the U SPORTS championship for the first time since 2012-13. 
 
"There's a lot of players in the room that were disappointed last year when we made it to nationals so to be able to win Game 1 was huge," said Head Coach Vicky Sunohara
 
With high stakes in the game both teams took the ice with their "A" games and played with high intensity from the moment the puck was dropped. The Blues were relentless on the forecheck gaining momentum in the offensive zone. The penalty kill was strong midway through the first period as third-year forward Nikki McDonald was able to get in front of a quality shot from the Reds and fifth-year netminder Erica Fryer was on her game between the pipes to keep the game scoreless. 
 
The momentum gained from the penalty kill carried into the next shift as Sophie Grawbarger attacked the Reds goal before dropping the puck back to first-year forward Ashley Delahey who fired the puck in the back of the net to make it 1-0 Toronto. 
 
The Reds were able to respond to the goal with one of their own as Mackenzie Keenan found the back of the net to tie the game at one, a score that was stagnant for the rest of the first period as both teams left the ice tied at one after 20 minutes of play.
 
In the second period both teams traded chances but Fryer and UNB's Kendra Woodland were strong in net to keep the game deadlocked at one going into the third period.
 
In the final 20 minutes, the Blues were able to hold off a desperate UNB offence, as Fryer continued to make big saves. With less than two and a half minutes to go in the game, Grawbarger gained a burst of speed and dangled around a UNB defender before beating Woodland blockerside with a backhand to give Toronto the lead.
 
"I saw me and one other girl. I was going to shoot but I saw her stick go out and then I saw the goalie sliding across and the backhand was open," Grawbarger said. 
 
As UNB pushed for a goal, Fryer made the best of her 16 saves keeping the puck from crossing the goal line and the Blues celebrated a win to advance to the U SPORTS semifinals, which will take place Saturday (Mar. 16) night against the Université de Montréal Carrabins.
 
Puck drop is scheduled for 9 p.m. EST. at Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon, Sask., and will be streamed live on CBC Sports digital platforms.