Gryphons, Gee-Gees gear up for McCaw Cup matchup in Guelph

Guelph, Ont. – More than half a decade since the Guelph Gryphons hoisted the McCaw Cup, the seven-time champions will have a chance to get back in the history books with a win Saturday on home ice against the Ottawa Gee-Gees, who are hungry for their first such title.

It has been relatively smooth sailing for the West Division’s No. 2 seeded Gryphons this season, as they put together a tidy 19-4-3-0 record. They produced three separate win streaks of at least four games, including a season-high six-game stretch late in the season that was punctuated by an 8-0 win over Brock in the penultimate week of play.

To then kickstart their postseason and corresponding quest for the McCaw Cup, the title-hungry Gryphons earned a quarterfinal matchup with the defending finalists from Waterloo. After splitting their first two meetings, the decider went down to the wire and then some, as the teams battled into triple-OT to find a victor, and behind 45 saves from Martina Fedel and the very late-game heroics from Teghan MacRae, the Gryphons pressed on.

After opening with a gauntlet, the battle-tested Gryphons left nothing to chance in their semifinal against underdog Ontario Tech. 16 saves from Fedel kept the Ridgebacks off the scoreboard all night long in Game 1, but not satisfied with one shutout, Fedel then backed up the outing with a similarly stingy performance between the pipes in Game 2.

The Trento, Italy netminder and two-time OUA all-star has been a steady presence for the McCaw-bound Gryphons, but also lent her talents to her native Italy during the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milano-Cortina. Fedel made 14 saves to backstop her team to a 4-1 victory against France, and will now look to achieve similar success with a conference title on the line on Saturday.

Fedel, alongside second team all-star Sophie Helfenstein, helped backstop the Gryphons to the second-stingiest goals-against average (1.23) and goals against (32) on the year. This was also aided by a strong special teams track record that ranked fourth with an 89.2% penalty kill.

A great deal of the team’s regular season success on the offensive side, meanwhile, came off the stick of captain Katherine Heard. The West Division player of the year and first team all-star led the team – and her division – with 25 points, a mark that featured 17 helpers (T-2nd in OUA).

Those career-best numbers helped the Gryphons remain a formidable force in the OUA once again this season, a status they’ve maintained for many years, but it has been a different path to the McCaw Cup Championship for their upcoming combatants.

The Gee-Gees have spent the majority of their program’s tenure as part of the RSEQ, and after their inaugural season in the OUA back in 2000-01, the team only recently returned in 2024-25. But in making their return, it didn’t take the Garnet and Grey long to also make their mark among their updated slate of competition.

Their first season back amongst Ontario teams was impressive, finishing with a postseason-worthy 47 points (good for third in the East Division) before ultimately bowing out to the eventual champion Varsity Blues.

With a nearly identical regular season result in tow in their 2025-26 campaign, finishing 15-8-2-1, the Gee-Gees found themselves in an identical quarterfinal matchup, albeit this time, as the higher-seeded squad.

Despite getting doubled up in Game 1, dropping a 6-3 decision to Toronto, the Gee-Gees bounced back thereafter. Naomi Morin netted the game-winner early in the third period of their 2-1 victory to force the finale, while three unanswered – including two from Béatrice Bilodeau – sealed the 3-1 win and the series overall.

The nation’s capital squad next turned their attention to a semifinal tilt against the OUA’s top-seeded Golden Hawks, earning a Game 1 win to jump out in front. After Laurier evened things up, all eyes went to Game 3. Laurier twice went up by a goal, but equalizers from Madison Desmarais and Gillian Warren kept the Gee-Gees on pace. It was then Angélique Proulx who broke the deadlock in OT and punched Ottawa’s ticket to their first McCaw Cup.

While overtime wins highlighted big moments for both squads in the postseason, it was also featured in one of their two head-to-head meetings during the year.

A 23-save shutout from Helfenstein and a pair of goals from Katie Dance earned Guelph a 3-0 win in their first matchup, but a little extra hockey was needed in their encore outing just two weeks later. After Guelph jumped out to the lead after 20 minutes in that one, Ottawa used a late third period equalizer to send the game to overtime. But just 22 seconds into the extra frame, Alexie Olivier ensured the season sweep for Guelph.

Those two losses were part of a mid-season scuffle for the Gee-Gees, but the championship-bound group bookended their campaign in fine form. Ottawa started their year without a regulation loss in their first six games – winning five of them – before then reeling off another six wins in their final seven games of the regular season. Much like Guelph, therefore, they came into the postseason playing some of their best hockey of the year.

A big part of that successful season was Warren, who finished just one point shy of the OUA lead this year. Her 30 points were good for third in the province, while her 16 goals tied her for second. The second team all-star was also an important piece of the team’s potent powerplay, having registered four of her team’s 18 goals with the player advantage.

The second-ranked powerplay in the league was also rounded out by the OUA’s second-best penalty kill (89.9%), and like Guelph, a great deal of that stingy play is due to their presence between the pipes. Second-team netminder Clara Genier was among the OUA’s top five in wins (12, T-4th in OUA) and anchored the team’s 1.82 goals-against average overall (3rd in OUA).

Each with numerous strengths on paper, both sides will enter the game feeling confident that they can close out their respective OUA campaigns by adding to their history books. And whether that addition is an eighth McCaw Cup or a first such accolade, securing the win will take the well-rounded, full 60-minute (plus) effort that has helped both Guelph and Ottawa earn so much success in getting to this pivotal final game.