OUA field hockey weekend roundup (with VIDEO)

Photo credit Guelph Athletics

Western Mustangs @ Guelph Gryphons
 
On Sunday the Gryphon field hockey team faced their toughest competition yet in the Western Mustangs on their home field in London. Nevertheless, the Gryphons prevailed with a solid 4-1 victory.
 
At the 12-minute mark freshman centre mid Alexis Wagner (Guelph, ON) who has been distributing the ball very well found an open Brienne Stairs (Kitchener, ON) for a reverse stick shot which she nailed to the back of the net. But the feisty young Mustang squad put up a good battle. As a result, the Gryphons went into the break with a mere 1-0 lead.
 
In the second frame, Guelph scored on a tic-tack-toe play from Amy Wise (Surrey, BC) to Brienne and then Tegan Stairs (Kitchener, ON) on an attacking penalty corner to go in front 2-0. Six minutes later, the Gryphs moved the ball quickly from the left side of the field over to the right where Brienne Stairs then dumped a long through pass to sister Tegan who gave it back to Brienne in the slot to eliminate the purple netminder for a 3-0 lead and the eventual insurance marker.
 
For Guelph’s fourth goal, rookie Liz Lutz (Oliver, BC) took advantage of a quick free hit after being fouled as she cracked the ball over to an unmarked Tegan Stairs for her second goal on the day.
 
Throughout the contest, the Mustangs were relentless but centre defender Courtney Lacey (Guelph, ON) did a fantastic job stealing the ball from the opposition and running it out of the circle. Unfortunately, there was a breakdown in the Gryphon backfield which Western managed to capitalize on and thus a 4-1 result in the Gryphs’ favour. Backstopper Kaye McLagan (Mitchell, ON) played very well between the pipes for Guelph.
 
With the win, the Gryphs posted a 3-0 record on the weekend for 9 points and are tied for top spot in the OUA.
 
Source: Gryphons Athletics
 

McGill Martlets @ Carleton Ravens

Laura Slipp of Oakville, Ont., and Camille St-Cyr of Richmond, B.C., each scored hat-ricks as the McGill women's field hockey team opened the regular season on the right foot with a resounding 8-0 whitewash over the Carleton Ravens, Saturday.

 The Martlets dominated the game from start to finish, displaying an aggressive offence combined with an impenetrable defence.
 After 10 minutes of play McGill was awarded a short corner and immediately capitalized on a straight shot from the top by St-Cyr.  Just three minutes later, Slipp tipped the ball past the Carleton goalie after another short corner.

 Slipp scored her second marker with a quick move in front of the net, assisted by midfielder Holly Millar and forward Shannon Sibold. Less than two minutes later St-Cyr notched her second, converting a pass from forward Laura Biggar.

 Biggar then scored in the 36th minute with a well-placed shot through the legs of the Carleton goalie. Meagan Fitzgerald put the Martlets ahead 6-0, forcing the ball through on a scramble in front of the net.

Slipp completed her hat-trick in the 54th minute, capitalizing on a short corner to score from in front of the net.  Six minutes later, McGill once again to advanatage of a short corner and St-Cyr netted her third goal.

 McGill goaltending chores were split between Olivia Isabelle of Ottawa and Jaqueline Riddle of Guelph.

Source: McGill Athletics

 
Queen’s Gaels @ Toronto Varsity Blues

Kaelan Watson scored four goals as the Varsity Blues field hockey team defeated the Queen’s Gaels 6-0 on Sunday, September 19 at TD Waterhouse Stadium in London, Ont.

Fielding most of his first-year players, head coach John DeSouza was happy with the weekend.

“We had some great showings from Lauren Mansfield, Alex Thicke, Heather Haughan and Ally Evanshyn,” said DeSouza. “This was a great way to start the season with all points in tact.”

A two-time CIS all-Canadian, Watson of Richmond, B.C., netted her first two of the game on direct hits off of Toronto corners in the 8th and 10th minute.

The Blues would not score again until Emily Roy (Peterborough, Ont.) banged in a rebound in the 56th minute to take a 3-0 lead.

Watson would add two more, both on corners, in the 64th and 68th minute and fourth-year forward Angela Jennings of Ottawa would round out the scoring with her first goal of the season one minute later.

With the win, the Blues improve to 3-0 and sit tied with the Guelph Gryphons for first place.

Source: Varsity Blues Athletics

Waterloo Warriors @ Guelph Gryphons, Western Mustangs, York Lions

The first game of the current campaign was against the defending OUA Champions, the Guelph Gryphons, and while the last game played (during the York Invitational Tourney) was a close affair, the result on Saturday morning (Sept. 18th) was a different story. The Warriors started off well but were down 1-0 about 10 minutes into the game. Undeterred, the team played hard for another 12 minutes before Guelph got a counter-attack goal to double the score. Several minutes later, the Warrior players decided to be spectators and watch an individual effort by a Guelph forward put the score at 3-0. However, just before the half-time whistle, Courtney Bisch got her first goal of the season to make it 3-1.
 
Even though the team was determined to show better in the 2nd half, an early penalty corner goal resulted in heads being dropped and belief in a come-back disappeared. The team went through the motions the remainder of the game and the final score was 9-1.
 
Up next were the hosts, the University of Western Mustangs, who has also lost earlier by a score of 2-1 to the University of Toronto. Both teams were aiming to turn their fortunes around but the Warriors were still feeling the effects of their previous game and were very slow “out of the gates”. Despite a lot of pressure and several good attempts on net, rookie goalkeeper Bronwen Clayfield-Jewett kept Western off the score sheet and Kara Moro put the Warriors ahead. This turned the tide and the team should have had a penalty stroke when Meghan Bester made a great run on the right side and was only halted when she was tripped in the D. As such, the score at half-time was 1-0.
 
As expected, Western came out strong in the 2nd half and the Warriors feel asleep for a 10 minute period which cost them dearly. Down 3-1, the team decided to wake up and might have tied up the game if two clear pushes in the back to both Kara Moro and Jaimie Wey, while in the act of shooting, had been called. But, this was not the case and when Western scored a dubious 4th goal, the Warriors were left wondering if they might as well just stop playing. However, having learned from earlier, they battled on and were rewarded with a goal by Meghan Bester to make the final score 4-2 before heading back home...
 
Sunday proved to be better despite the fact it was evident the Warriors were still thinking about the disappointment of Saturday when York went up 1-0 after 12 minutes. Realizing they needed to put the past behind them and take steps forward, the team started playing better and went into the half tied 1-1 with a goal by Jaimie Wey (who had earlier missed a penalty stroke). More aggressive and assertive play in the 2nd half resulted in 2 goals by Kara Moro with Jaimie Wey put the game away and redeeming herself with her 2nd goal of the game via another penalty stroke. However, somebody forgot to tell York that the game was over and they scored in the final minute to make the result 4-2.

Source: Warrior Athletics