TORONTO, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team, seeded No. 2 in the OUA West, were unable to pull of a semifinal upset, falling 4-0 to the OUA East's No. 1 seeded, and No. 2 nationally-ranked, University of Toronto Varsity Blues on Sunday afternoon in Toronto. Lock-down defence from the Varsity Blues helped the hosts Toronto advance to the McCaw Cup final to face Nipissing, while the Gryphons memorable 2022-23 season comes to a close.
With the Gryphons finding themselves down 1-0 after the 1st period but having played well, it seemed like we were in for another tightly-contested game between the two teams, with Guelph having battled back from a 1-0 deficit less than 24 hours earlier in Game 2 of the series. Coming out of the 2nd period, the Gryphons got an early chance to tie things up with a Toronto power play but would take a penalty of their own eight seconds in to send the game to 4-on-4. Another Gryphon penalty just a minute later sent any potential momentum the way of the Varsity Blues. Despite not scoring on the advantage, Toronto would score shortly after. Less than two minutes after doubling their lead they would make it a 3-0 game as the Toronto captain Taylor Trussler scored her second of the game. In the 3rd period, the Gryphons quickly found themselves on the back foot with another penalty. Toronto would capitalize, with Trussler completing her hattrick. Guelph received three more opportunities on the power play but came up empty due to a suffocating Toronto penalty killing unit and strong goaltending from Erica Fryer. The Gryphons went 0-for-7 on the advantage over the course of the game while Toronto went 1-for-7.
Despite the four Varsity Blues scores, Gryphon goaltender
Martina Fedel still put on an impressive performance, stopping 22-of-26 shots faced. At the other end, Erica Fryer completed the shutout, turning away all 12 Guelph shot attempts.
The Varsity Blues are now off to the McCaw Cup final, where they will host the Nipissing Lakers in the single-game conference championship game on Saturday (March 11). Following the OUA final, both Nipissing and Toronto will head to the U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championships in Montreal (March 16-19). The Gryphons meanwhile continue to demonstrate their right as one of the elite teams in the conference and a make themselves a staple in the OUA playoffs, with Guelph having advanced to the semifinal round in 8 of the past 10 postseasons.
