The No. 2 seed University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's hockey team earned a U SPORTS Bronze medal in the 2025 Miller Waste U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship on Sunday (Mar. 23) afternoon, defeating the No. 5 seed Concordia Stingers 3-1 at the Woolwich Memorial Centre in Elmira, Ont.

This win marks the second consecutive year that the Blues have medaled at the U SPORTS Championship after taking home a silver medal last season. 

"Anytime you can make it to a U SPORTS national championship it's great for everybody. For the seniors to finish their careers being involved in the national championships but also for the returning and first years," said Varsity Blues women's hockey head coach Vicky Sunohara. "Hopefully they took it all in and we can continue to build on this and help develop our student athletes."

In the first period, the Blues came out flying in their season finale and were rewarded for their efforts with the game's opening goal. Drawing a penalty in the offensive zone, U of T made the most of a power play as fourth-year forward Sophie Grawbarger found a loose puck behind Concordia goaltender Arianne Leblanc and made no mistake, sending it to the back of the net and giving the Blues a 1-0 lead that they brought into the first intermission. Grawbarger went on to earn player of the game for the Blues.

Concordia managed to tie the game midway through the second period on a goal by Jessymaude Drapeau. Despite the goal, the Blues remained composed as the game remained tied going into the third period.

The Blues were relentless in the final 20 minutes, playing their brand of hockey as they looked for the edge. Toronto got the goal they were looking for seven minutes into the period as Taylor Delahey found the back of the net on a cross-crease pass. With under two minutes to play, fifth-year forward Scout Watkins-Southward scored an empty net goal to secure the bronze medal for U of T.

The Blues first-year goalie tandem of Lyla McKinnon and Sarah-Lynn Gauthier combined to make 18 saves in the win.

The Blues will look ahead to the 2025-26 season. For more information visit varsityblues.ca.

Schedule:

Thursday, March 20
Quarter-Final #1: Concordia 5, STFX 2
Quarter-Final #2: Waterloo 3, Alberta 0

Friday, March 21
Quarter-Final #3: Bishop's 4, UBC 3 (OT)
Quarter-Final #4: Toronto 2, UNB 0

Saturday, March 22
Consolation Semifinal #1: Alberta 3, STFX 0
Consolation Semifinal #2: UBC 5, UNB 1
Semfinal #1: Waterloo 5, Concordia 1
Semfinal #2: Bishop's 2, Toronto 1

Sunday, March 23
Consolation Final: UBC 5, Alberta 1
Bronze-Medal Game: Toronto 3, Concordia 1
Gold-Medal Game: Bishop's 3, Waterloo 0