The women's field hockey team travelled to Ottawa on Sunday and defeated York 7-0 and McGill 5-1. 

The Gryphons (3-0) kicked off the day with an early match-up against York. Tegan Stairs (Kitchener, ON) opened the scoring for Guelph in the second minute of play after a great initial save by the York GK off sister Brienne Stairs (Kitchener, ON) shot. Following great ball movement and overlapping from co-captain Alison Little (Toronto, ON) and Alexis Wagner (Guelph, ON) through the midline, Tegan collected her second of the day from Brittany Seidler (Oliver, BC). Brienne Stairs then notched one of her own for a 3-0 halftime score line.

In the second frame, the Gryphs conceded two York penalty corners but Guelph silenced the Lions as Lauren Goodmanson (Victoria, BC) powered a ball out of the backfield to find an open Brittany Seidler with a 30-yard pass to Brienne Stairs who split two York defenders to find the back of the net. Off another Lion penalty corner, the Gryphons went end to end as co-captain Courtney Lacey (Guelph, ON) intercepted the ball and initiated the attack from the Guelph 16-yard line hitting an open Brienne Stairs. Stairs laid off to Liz Lutz (Oliver, BC) for a reverse stick pass to Brittany Seidler who eliminated the York GK. Seidler then had an excellent give a go play with Stairs off a York turnover to make it 6-0. Shortly after, Alison Little went baseline with the ball and passed out front of the Lions net for Seidler who rounded out the scoring with a hat trick on the day for the 7-0 victory. Dorothy Marcy (Oliver, BC) made several key saves to keep the Lions at bay for 70 minutes.

 

Later that day, Guelph would strike the McGill cage hard but it took 27 minutes before they hit the scoreboard on a goal by captain Alison Little. The Martlets were speedy and played a tight man-to-man game to hold the Gryphons to a lone goal in the first half.

 

After the intermission, McGill pressured but netminder Kaye McLagan (Mitchell, ON) and the backline led by Courtney Lacey and Lauren Goodmanson held strong and didn't break. Three minutes in, the defense spearheaded the attack yet again hitting Tegan Stairs on the fly that found sister Brienne for her 10th marker of the season. Brittany Seidler collected one of her own assisted by Brienne Stairs. Brienne then sacrificed another opportunity to score laying the ball off to Laura Gordon (Cambridge, ON) to record her first league marker in a Gryphon jersey. The Martlets spoiled McLagan's shutout with 6 minutes remaining for a 5-1 win in Guelph's favour.

 

All 20 athletes performed solidly throughout the day amassing 12 goals for and 1 against en route to a 5-0 record on the season. The Gryphons now have three players on top of the OUA and CIS scoring chart: Brienne Stairs (10), Brittany Seidler and Tegan Stairs (7).

 

Next weekend, Guelph plays three contests at home for the first time in 12 years.