Banner Season: Queen’s and Ontario Tech remain undefeated after dramatic Day 2, set for clash in gold medal match
St. Catharines, Ont. (via Brock Badgers) - It was a shocking second day at Kiwanis Field for the 2024 OUA Women’s Lacrosse Championship as one favourite fell and another flexed its might.
The Queen’s Gaels, the 2023 OUA silver medalists, continued their perfect run while the defending champion Western Mustangs settled for fifth place.
On the other side of the bracket, Ontario Tech also remained undefeated, besting their regional rivals, the Trent Excalibur, in the semifinals.
Semifinal 1: Queen’s 23 - Toronto 3
After winning the first two round robin games by a combined score differential of 39-4, the Queen’s Gaels showed no signs of stopping. In the first of two semifinals, the Gaels dispatched the Toronto Varsity Blues by a score of 23-2.
Tara Meikle powered the Queen’s side with seven goals and one assist while Abby Lee delivered two goals and three assists. The first quarter saw the Gaels jump out to a 7-0 lead before the Varsity Blues could notch their first goal.
Holding their opposition scoreless in the second frame, the Gaels kept their foot on the gas as they entered halftime with a 14-1 advantage.
Toronto got two goals in the third quarter, but the scoring from Queen’s did not stop as six more goals were added. A three-goal fourth quarter gave the Gaels 23 in the contest. The Gaels are looking for their fifth Patterson Cup on Sunday, while the Varsity Blues will drop to the bronze medal game as they seek their first OUA medal since 2017.
The match is set to begin at noon and will be streamed on OUA.tv.
Semifinal 2: Ontario Tech 11 - Trent 7
In a battle of two schools that are separated by less than 10 kilometers, it was the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks who reigned supreme in the contest, outlasting the Trent Excalibur 11-7.
Ontario Tech’s Audrey Taylor scored five goals and added one assist to lead all scorers, while on the other side the Trent Excalibur were led by Tyler McDonald who had a hat trick.
The first quarter was a tight affair with the Ridgebacks holding a slight 4-3 lead. Taylor scored two of the Ridgebacks’ four goals as they led 8-5 at halftime.
A low-scoring third quarter took place as both teams were only able to score one goal each. Taylor and Kendra Orr each delivered one goal for the Ridgebacks as they held off a potential comeback from the Excalibur, who were only able to notch one goal off the stick of McDonald. Ontario Tech continued its perfect tournament with the 11-7 win and are now in the gold medal game, where they are seeking the program’s first provincial title.
The last time the Ridgebacks played for an OUA medal was in 2019 when they fell to the Western Mustangs 14-11 in the bronze medal match.
Despite falling to the Ridgebacks, the Excalibur will have a shot at a bronze medal as they take on the Toronto Varsity Blues on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. It will be a rematch of last year’s third-place battle where the Excalibur defeated the Varsity Blues 16-10.
The bronze medal contest will also be streamed live on OUA.tv.
Fifth-Place Game: Laurier 10 - Western 14
The Western Mustangs bounced back from their earlier defeat in the day to finish fifth in the tournament with a 14-10 win over the Laurier Golden Hawks.
Reese Wilkins had a phenomenal game, scoring eight times for the Mustangs while Kennedy Ward had a game-high four assists to go along with two goals.
In the first quarter, the Mustangs saw Wilkins put in a hat trick to give them an early 4-2 lead. A total of seven goals were scored in the second frame as the Mustangs held an 8-5 lead. Wilkins and Rylan Weatherdon both scored two goals for Western while Jace Cormier scored all three for the Golden Hawks in the quarter.
Attempting to make a comeback, the Golden Hawks outscored the Mustangs 3-2 in the third quarter, bringing the Western advantage down to 10-8. Wilkins added two more goals as the Mustangs added four total in the fourth to take the game 14-10.
Cormier scored four goals in the loss for Laurier while Rayne Blasutti and Delaney Keen had two each.
Game 7: Western 9 - Ontario Tech 10
It was a shocking result in the first game of Day 2 round robin action as the defending champion Western Mustangs were knocked off by the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks; guaranteeing a new gold medalist in 2024.
Jailyn Joensen was the leading scorer for either side, putting in four for the winning Ridgebacks squad. The Ridgebacks came out firing, scoring five goals as compared to two from the Mustangs. Olivia Toll had two of her three goals for Ontario Tech in the first frame.
A two-goal second quarter from both sides meant the halftime lead read 7-4 for the Ridgebacks.
The third quarter saw high-octane offence from the Mustangs as Wilkins scored two goals. Outscoring the Ridgebacks 4-2 in the quarter, the Mustangs brought the game to within one as the scoreline read 9-8. Tenley Hill helped last year’s gold medalists tie the game with 7:51 remaining in the final frame.
Both teams were hungry for the equalizer, and it was the Ridgebacks who got the go-ahead marker as Joensen scored her fourth and final goal with 2:00 left to seal the win.
A total of six yellow cards were handed out as Western received four of them while Ontario Tech was given the other two.
Game 8: Queen’s 21 - McMaster 0
The Queen’s Gaels proved why they are one of the favourites with a decisive 21-0 victory over the McMaster Marauders.
In the contest, 13 different Queen’s players scored a goal as they controlled the pace of play from start to finish. Both Tara Meikle and Charlotte Sawicki finished with a hat trick. A seven-point first quarter for Queen’s followed by a second frame with four more goals gave the defending silver medalists an 11-0 advantage.
The goal scoring continued for the Gaels in the third quarter as they added six more. In the final 15 minutes, the Gaels put in an additional four to finish with 21 total goals.
McMaster was handed six yellow cards in the contest, with Morgan Randell earning two of them. In the win, the Gaels showed strong passing, finishing with 12 total assists.
Game 9: Trent 13 - Brock 5
The Brock Badgers’ tournament run at home came to an end as the Trent Excalibur were victorious 13-5.
Abby Hiltz continued her scoring ways from the previous day, putting in a game-high six goals for the Excalibur. In the first quarter, Hiltz scored both for Trent as they held a close 2-1 first-quarter advantage.
The next 15 minutes saw the Excalibur ratchet up the pressure, scoring three goals and holding their opposition to one to carry a 5-2 halftime lead.
Brock reversed their fortunes in the third as they found goals from Abby Holliday, Kyla McGuire and Mackenzie Shigwadja. The Badgers held the Excalibur scoreless, leading to a 5-5 tie game at the end of the quarter and a highly anticipated final frame of action.
The final quarter was one to remember for the Excalibur. After scoring two goals within 20 seconds to start the quarter, they added six more, including three from Hiltz to comfortably win 13-5.
Holliday and McGuire scored two goals each for the Badgers.