Guelph, Ont. – The CIS No. 3 Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team will once again face the Queen's Gaels in the OUA semifinals. Guelph will begin a three-game series with perennial rival, Queens for the OUA semifinals this week.
 
Guelph will host the first game of the series at the Gryphon Centre on Wednesday (Feb. 19) at 7:30 p.m. The game will be webcast LIVE here
 
The two teams have a storied playoff history. Last year, the Gaels defeated Guelph in the semifinals in two straight games. In 2010-11 the Gaels won the OUA Championship title defeating the Gryphons in two straight games, including the historic sixth overtime period contest.
 
Guelph ended their regular season with a 21-3-0 record, they are riding a 14-game winning streak and entered the playoffs as the top seeded team in the OUA. Guelph defeated Waterloo in two straight games in the OUA quarter-finals. The Gaels finished the season fourth in the OUA with a 16-4-4 record and are ranked eighth in the nation currently. Queen's swept their quarter-final series over the fifth-place Windsor Lancers by scores of 2-1 and a 3-2 overtime final.
 
During the regular season, these two teams went 1-1 in head-to-head play. The Gryphons dropped a 3-1 final on Oct. 19 and bounced back for a 3-2 win in their second matchup on Feb. 1. 
 
Leading the Gryphons in the playoffs so far has been second year Averi Nooren scoring two huge goals in the quarter-final series. In the first game of the playoffs versus Waterloo she scored an insurance marker to give the team some breathing room and then on Saturday she scored the only goal, and game winner.
 
Across the ice will be the offensive firepower of the Queens Gaels who sit sixth in the CIS in shots with 759. Leading the Gaels will be Morgan McHaffie, Shawna Griffon and Taryn Pilon. McHaffie, a Guelph native finished the regular season fifth in the OUA with 31 points (11G, 20A). Griffon and Pilon finished the regular season with 26 and 21 points respectively.
 
Game two of the series will take place in Kingston on Friday (Feb. 21) at 7:30 p.m. If game three is needed the two teams will return to the Gryphon Centre on Sunday (Feb. 23) for a 2:00 p.m. puck drop.