Banner Season: Warriors welcome top four teams in quest for repeat title

Burlington, Ont. – After snapping a 20-year titleless stretch in 2024, the Waterloo Warriors are looking to make it back-to-back banners when they welcome the final four teams to the 2025 OUA Field Hockey Championship. And if last year was considered a Cinderella run to glory, this team is anything but an underdog when the action gets underway at Warrior Field.

The defending champions earned the right to host this year’s banner season festivities on the heels of an unbeaten regular season, putting together a sparkling 9-0-1 record on the year, including victories over all three of their counterparts this weekend.

Led by three-time all-star Meagan Hobson, who checks in as the reigning Marsden Trophy winner as the Warriors athlete of the year, as well as Sierra Blackburn, who finished with top-five OUA marks in goals (6) and points (12), the black and gold’s dynamic duo are looking to anchor another title run. They will also be set up well in net, with Grace Miller tending the goal on the heels of a strong season that featured an .833 save percentage (1st in OUA), 25 saves (2nd in OUA), and just five goals against (3rd in OUA) in seven games played.

As part of their impressive championship run a year ago, the Warriors first took down Toronto in the semifinals, which is exactly what they’ll be tasked with doing this year as well. But after a fourth-place finish for the Blues to close out the 2024 campaign, they’ll be keen on turning their fortunes around in Saturday’s semifinal rematch.

To get back to the top of the podium, the Blues (2nd place, East Division (4-4-2)) will turn to a pair of key contributors on the defensive end. All-star Maggie Mullins, a third-year defender from Charlottetown, P.E.I., has been a critical contributor in the defensive end, while also playing a key role in the Blues’ offensive transition.

And when it comes to the last line of defence, the Blues have an award-winning goalkeeper between the pipes. Mary Yang stepped into a starting role in net for the Blues as a first-year student-athlete and was up to the task, as evidenced by her .824 save percentage, 0.44 goals-against average, and just three goals against in eight games. Named the 2025 OUA goalkeeper of the year, the Calgary, Alta. product was able to rely on plenty of international experience in her foray to the varsity stage, having represented Canada as a member of the U16 and U18 Canadian junior national teams.

Finishing ahead of Toronto in the East Division, the York Lions (1st place, East Division (7-1-2)) will also look to avenge a semifinal loss from a year ago. The Lions, who have 10 OUA field hockey titles to their name, trailing only Toronto’s 24 in that category, will be eyeing a spot in the gold medal game for the third time in four seasons, relying on a mix of relentless offence and stingy defence.

The latter has been on full display down the stretch, with the Lions wrapping up the season with six straight clean sheets, five of which were wins, but a key fixture on the offensive side is all-star Kathryn Carlow. Enjoying a breakout campaign, Carlow collected a league-leading nine goals in her 10 games played. The third-year kinesiology and health science major buried multiple tallies in three games, including a hat trick on October 12th against Queen’s, and after going goalless in her rookie campaign, has developed into one of the top offensive threats in the OUA.

Alongside Carlow is the longest tenured Lion, Jewel Lew, who has followed in lockstep with her sister – former Lions goalkeeper Jade Lew – to provide a high level of leadership both on and off the field. This is also while chipping in offensively in the midfield, notching five goals throughout her OUA career, and playing a strong defensive-minded style of game.

The team that kept York from the gold medal game a year ago will have a chance to do the same this weekend, meanwhile, with the Guelph Gryphons (2nd place, West Division (7-1-2)) rounding out the final four field.

The reigning silver medalists are led by now back-to-back most valuable player Abby Warriner. A three-time all-Canadian and reigning U SPORTS player of the year, Warriner led the way offensively for the Gryphons this season, with her seven goals also good enough for a top-three finish in the OUA. The fifth-year biomedical engineering major is regarded as one of the conference’s premier midfielders.

Alongside the Newmarket, Ont. local is another of Guelph’s top scoring threats, Sophie Pomeroy. After putting together a breakout year in 2024, the biomedical science major from Halifax, N.S. continued to build on her varsity success, finishing the year with five goals and 10 points, both good for top-10 ranks in the province.

All four teams have been crowned OUA champions at least once since 2019, and whether relying on emerging stars, established leaders, or past experience this time around, Waterloo, Toronto, York, and Guelph each have reason to believe they can add to their program totals with a championship moment in 2025.