GUELPH, Ont. - Saturday afternoon (March 4) at the Gryphon Centre, the University of Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team picked up a hard-fought 2-1 win over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues to keep their season alive. With the win, the Gryphons tie the series at 1-1 and force a winner-take-all Game 3, that will take place Sunday in Toronto (4pm) with a trip to the McCaw Cup final and a berth to nationals on the line.
After a tightly-contested 1st period that saw the Gryphons control possession for most of the frame, it was the Varsity Blues who opened the scoring 11 minutes into the 2nd period.
It was the only shot to make it past Gryphon goaltender
Martina Fedel, with the Trento, Italy native stopping 30 of 31 shots in the game. Fedel added another win to her growing playoff resume, which now includes a 3-1-1 record, 1.19 goals against average (1st in the OUA playoffs), and a 0.949 save percentage.
Four minutes after Toronto took the lead,
Vanessa Bueti sent the game back to a tie as she found a loose puck in front of the Varsity Blues crease and beat Toronto goaltender Erica Fryer glove-side for her first of the playoffs, sending the near capacity crowd of 844 at the Gryphon Centre into a frenzy. The 2nd period came to a close with the two teams locked into a 1-1 tie.
With the Gryphons looking to keep their 2022-23 season alive and the Varsity Blues looking to head to the OUA championship final, both teams kicked their play into high gear in the 3rd.
Every save and every puck battle along the boards resulted in increased physical play, that sent the Gryphons to the penalty box on more than one occasion. The penalties put the pressure on the OUA playoff's second-best penalty killing unit, but they were up to the task, putting their 91.6 killing percentage on the line. With the visiting team held scoreless on the advantage the Gryphons funneled that momentum into the offence. With just over six minutes remaining, the Gryphons were rewarded as
Jaime Magoffin scored her second of the playoffs on a rocket of a wrist shot into the corner of the net. With the Varsity Blues pulling the goalie late in the period the Gryphons were able to keep possession in the offensive zone to secure the Game 2 victory and force a decisive Game 3.
A loss in regulation is a rarity for the No. 2 nationally-ranked Varsity Blues, who prior to Saturday, had not lost in regulation since way back on November 12, 2022, which also came to the Gryphons (a 1-0 Guelph victory at Varsity Arena). The U of G women's hockey team will now head back to Toronto on Sunday (March 5) for a Game 3 matchup with the Varsity Blues. The winner of Sunday's game will move on to the OUA championship game (McCaw Cup), where the Nipissing Lakers await. The Lakers punched their ticket after sweeping the Waterloo Warriors 2-0 with a pair of overtime victories. Fans unable to attend Sunday's Game 3 in Toronto can catch all the elimination game action live online at
oua.tv.
