University of Toronto Athletics

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's hockey opened the 2026-27 season with a 3-2 overtime win over the Laurier Golden Hawks on Thursday (Oct. 15) night at Varsity Arena.

Fifth-year forward Emma Elders sent the Varsity Arena faithful home happy in the rinks centennial season, burying a breakaway for the overtime winner.

Looking to carry the momentum generated from a strong preseason, U of T found themselves in the defensive zone in the first half of the opening frame with Laurier testing third-year netminder Lyla McKinnon early. Midway through the period, Estee Fodor opened the scoring for the visiting team. Unphased by the goal against, Toronto began to generate momentum, pushing the play up the ice.

The Blues scored the equalizer when fourth-year forward Abby Whitworth beat the clock and scored a power play goal with less than one second remaining in the period. Fellow fourth-year Taylor Delahey drew the assist with a hard forecheck to get the puck to the 2025-26 OUA scoring leader who made her mark on the game.

In the second period, neither side found the back of the net as a goaltending dual between McKinnon and Laurier's Sarah Howell had begun. Offensively, U of T controlled the pace of play as they evened the shot total in a deadlocked game through 40 minutes of play.

Toronto's power play struck again to begin the third period as second-year forward Petra Klimes took advantage of traffic in front of Howell to but the game in U of T's favour. Delahey and Whitworth each picked up their second point of the game with assists. Laurier would answer late in the period when Alexa Giantsopoulos leveled the score with 82 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime.

In overtime, the Blues wasted no time scoring a game winner. After a stop in the defensive zone, third-year defender Jaia Freer sprung a pass to Elders who on a breakaway beat Howell five-hole for the game-winning goal.

Between the pipes, McKinnon stood tall, turning aside 27 shots. Meanwhile, special teams were a difference maker for the Blue and White, scoring on 40 per cent of their power plays and killing all five penalties.

The homestand continues for U of T, welcoming the Waterloo Warriors to Varsity Arena on Saturday (Oct. 17) night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m., with tickets available at varsityblues.ca/tickets. The game will also be streamed live on oua.tv.