The semi finals are all set in Elmira and it will be a battle of the RSEQ vs. the OUA.
The Warriors had a tough challenge in their first game after being seeded 8th after their loss in the OUA finals to Varsity Blues. Their quarter finals opponents were the first-seeded Canada West champions, the Alberta Pandas. Alberta started as the stronger of the two teams putting early pressure on the Warriors, but were not able to turn that pressure into an advantage. Three quarters of the way through the first period, the Warriors captain Leah Herrfort pushed the team forward. Herrfort skated down the right wing and seemed to surprise the goalie with a quick shot to put the Warriors ahead.
The second period saw an early goal from Kassidy McCarthy followed by a power play opportunity before the Warriors were put on the defensive as they had to kill off four power plays in a row, including over a minute and a half with two players in the box. Despite Alberta playing with the advantage for almost half of the period, the Warriors were able to limit the shots faced by goalie Kara Mark. Mark fielded 9 shots in the second period and 22 overall, holding on to the puck on several key occasions to give the Warriors a reassuring presence in net.
The third period saw Alberta get into a bit of penalty trouble as the game’s physicality increased and frustration began to creep in. Warriors forward Gracey Smith was able to take advantage on their first power play of the period after a turnover at their own blue line led to a two-on-one which she finished with a quick shot into the bottom right corner of the net. Alberta threw everything they had left at the Warriors but even with an extra attacker the Warriors were able to get a stick or body in the way to break up any emerging attacks.
The first quarter final of Thursday saw No. 5 Concordia defeat No. 4 STFX 5-2. The defending champions Concordia were coming off a loss in the RSEQ finals. STFX looked like they would compound that misery with two early goals in the second period to take the lead but Concordia was able to answer back with four goals in less than 15 minutes of the second period to take command of the game. The four-goal second period included a hat trick by Jessymaude Drapeau, who got the comeback going for the Stingers.
The first quarter final to take place on Friday saw the No. 3 Bishop’s Gaiters take on the No. 6 UBC Thunderbirds. The game went back and forth, with the Gaiters taking an early lead in the first period only for the Thunderbirds to tie it up with 3 minutes remaining. The second period played out much the same way, ending 2-2. The Thunderbird took a lead 6 minutes into the third period and it looked like that would be enough to take them into the next round until Annika Lafreniere found an equalizer with 32 seconds left in the game. The Gaiters were able to take that momentum into overtime, and Gabrielle Santerre scored 7 minutes into overtime to book a place in the semi finals.
The last quarter final saw the No. 2 ranked Varsity Blues take on the No. 7 ranked UNB REDS. The Varsity Blues scored late in the second period and mid-way through the third, and largely controlled the game. The dominance was evident with Toronto taking 39 shots while UNB was only able to muster 13.
With those results the semi finals are set with the Warriors facing the Stingers Saturday at 4:00 p.m. and the Blues facing the Gaiters Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in the Woolwich Memorial Centre. A consolation semi final will also be played, which sees the Pandas take on STFX at 10:00 a.m. and the REDS take on the Thunderbirds at 1:00 p.m.
