OUA Semi Final: Golden Hawks advance to final

WINDSOR, Ont. - The No. 2 nationally-ranked Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women's hockey team advanced to the provincial championship after they defeated the Windsor Lancers 2-1 in the second game of the best-of-three series.

The win marks the 10th consecutive year that the Golden Hawks will play in the provincial championship game.

Hawk captain Andrea Ironside (Collingwood, Ont.) netted the game winning goal midway through the third period as she and Caitlin Muirhead (Waterloo, Ont.) entered the Lancers zone on a two-on-one and beat netminder Jamie Tessier (Copper Cliff, Ont.). 

Tessier faced a barrage of shots throughout the contest as she stopped 34 while Hawk backstop and OUA player of the year Liz Knox (Stouffville, Ont.) stopped 25 while being screened several times and seeing a multitude shots.

"It was a battle for us today as they were quite physical," commented Knox on the style of game the Lancers brought. "Their game plan was to keep pressure up by putting bodies and shots on the net and that's one of the things we had to adjust to."

The Lancers opened scoring with their only marker as Lindsay Hoogstraten (St. George, Ont.) deflected a shot from Kelly Calhoun (Weston, Ont.) while on the power play. Early in the second, Laurier's Kate Psota (Burlington, Ont.) beat Tessier to even up the game at ones.

"Today they had a good effort," commented Ironside on the Lancers performance. "They played like a team, knowing their season was on the line and we had to battle them hard for all three periods."

The last time the Golden Hawks were not in the OUA final was in the 1999-2000 season when they finished the year with a bronze.

"They are a strong team and always bring their top game during playoffs," commented Ironside on the Gryphons, the team Laurier will play in the championship. "We're ready to get going for the next round."

Laurier was 2-0 against Guelph this season with two one-goal victories (1-0, 3-2).

Source: Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks