Banner Season: Title favourites victorious in first day of round robin play
St. Catharines, Ont. (vis Brock Badgers) - It was a packed first day of action on Friday, Oct. 25 for the 2024 edition of the OUA Women’s Lacrosse Championship at Kiwanis Field.
Both title favourites, the Western Mustangs, last year’s gold medallists, and 2023 silver meddalists, the Queen’s Gaels, won their respective round robin matches to start their tournament.
Game 1: Western 11 - Guelph 9
The Western Mustangs won the first game of the championship with a thrilling 11-9 victory over the Guelph Gryphons. Reese Wilkins of Western led the defending champions with an impressive five goals.
In the first quarter, the Mustangs jumped out to a 5-1 advantage as Lexie Delisle led the way with two goals. A strong showing from the Gryphons ensued as they notched five second-quarter goals to try and claw back. Not to be outdone, the Mustangs scored three of their own to hold an 8-5 halftime lead.
Guelph’s Allison Verge and Maya Gazzola scored one goal apiece while Wilkins put one in for the Mustangs as the scoreline read 9-7 in favour of Western after 45 minutes of action. Both teams scored two goals each in the final frame as the Mustangs held on for the 11-9 victory and their first win of the championship. Verge and Gazzola both finished with two goals each for the Gryphons.
Game 2: Queen’s 18 - Laurier 4
The Queen’s Gaels built on their second-place finish from last year with a great start on Day 1, besting the Laurier Golden Hawks 18-4.
Leading the way for the Gaels was Abby Lee with four goals and two assists while Charlotte Sawicki and Jaedyn Smail both finished with two goals, respectively. In the initial 15 minutes, both teams found the back of the net multiple times as the Gaels put up five while the Golden Hawks delivered three. Things changed in the second quarter as Queen’s matched their first-quarter scoring output and held the Golden Hawks scoreless to go up 10-3 at halftime.
The second half saw the Gaels continue to take control, going on an 8-1 run to end the contest. Laurier was led by Rayne Blasutti who had two goals. Four yellow cards were issued to members of the Golden Hawks with Kate Ferguson receiving two of them.
Game 3: Trent 10 - Toronto 10
In a rematch of last year’s bronze medal contest, the Trent Excalibur and Toronto Varsity Blues met in round robin play where the two teams would settle for a 10-10 tie. Trent’s Abby Hiltz led all scorers with five goals which included two critical scores in the fourth quarter.
On the other side, Toronto’s Holly Bureau notched a hat trick in the game and also scored the last two for her team in the final frame. Toronto took the 3-2 lead after one quarter of play as Bella Ward scored twice.
The second quarter saw Trent go on a furious scoring run capped off by Hiltz’s two goals as the halftime score read 8-4 in favour of the Excalibur. Demonstrating resilience, the Varsity Blues fought back with four goals of their own and held the opposition scoreless in the third frame to tie things up at 8-8. A tense fourth quarter saw Toronto strike first with the first of two goals in the fourth quarter from Bureau with 13:45 remaining.
With both teams having added a goal each after that, the Excalibur saw themselves down one with less than four minutes remaining. Hiltz answered the call, scoring with just over three and a half minutes remaining to tie the game. Neither team could break the deadlock as they walked away with a tie.
Game 4: Guelph 3 - Ontario Tech 15
The Ontario Tech Ridgebacks controlled the play from start to finish en route to a 15-3 win over the Guelph Gryphons.
Kendra Orr and Audrey Taylor both were scoring savants in the contest as they each scored a hat trick. After a two-goal first quarter, the Ridgebacks exploded for five in the second to carry an 7-1 lead into halftime.
Coming out of the break, Taylor scored two of her three goals in the third quarter as Ontario Tech matched their goal total from the second frame. The Gryphons tried to power a comeback with two goals of their own. The Ridgebacks scored three in the fourth as they won comfortably 15-3.
Guelph had three different scorers in the match.
Game 5: Laurier 23 - McMaster 2
Reversing the fortunes of their earlier defeat, the Laurier Golden Hawks earned the largest margin of victory on the day with a complete 23-2 performance over the McMaster Marauders. Blasutti led the team with six goals while Riley Marwick notched five of her own.
In the first quarter, things were tight as the Golden Hawks led by a slim 3-1margin. It was the next 15 minutes where things turned into the Golden Hawks’ favour as Blasutti delivered all six of her goals in the second frame. When the whistle blew for the half, the Golden Hawks found themselves up 10-1.
The scoring continued in the third quarter as Laurier outscored their opponents 5-0 to take a 15-1 lead. Laurier finished the contest on an 8-1 scoring run to finish their round robin play with a 1-1-0 record.
Game 6: Toronto 15 - Brock 8
The Varsity Blues rebounded from their earlier draw with the Trent Excalibur by defeating the host Brock Badgers 15-8. Keira Gowan powered the Varsity Blues’ attack with seven goals to lead all scorers on Day 1.
It was Bureau who continued her scoring prowess from the previous match, slotting in four of Toronto's six first-quarter scores. After 15 minutes, the Varsity Blues led 6-1. Toronto held a 9-3 advantage at halftime as their momentum continued to grow.
It was a low scoring third quarter as the Varsity Blues outscored the host Badgers by a score of 2-1 to expand their lead to 10-4. The home fans brought the noise as they saw their Badgers score four goals in the final frame. The Varsity Blues were up to the task though, putting in five of their own to capture the contest by a score of 15-8.
With the win, the Varsity Blues improved their round robin record to 1-0-1. The Badgers were led by Mackenzie Shigwadja who had two goals.
The round robin portion of the tournament concludes tomorrow on Saturday, Oct. 26, with the fifth-place match taking place after at 3:30 p.m. The semifinals then follow at 5:15 p.m. and 7 p.m.