LONDON, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons field hockey team continued its undefeated play Saturday night, as the squad beat the York Lions 5-0 in an OUA semifinal game at TD Waterhouse Stadium in London, Ont.
It was the first game of the 2009 OUA Championship for the Gryphons, who earned a first-round playoff bye with a 12-0-2 regular season record.
“We were flying high all day,” said Guelph head coach Michelle Turley. “At 3:00, the girls wanted to play. Our kids were waiting forever to play today."
Despite the long wait, the Gryphons were anything but rusty on Saturday night.
Fittingly, it was the Stairs sisters that got the scoring started, as they have led the way for Guelph all year. Third-year forward Brienne Stairs (Kitchener, Ont.), who scored a league-best 30 goals in the regular season, took a pass from younger sister Tegan (Kitchener, Ont.) in the 20th minute of the first half and put it home for a 1-0 Guelph lead.
The Gryphons then increased their lead to a pair when fifth-year midfielder Angela Lancaster (Burlington, Ont.) scored on a penalty shot in the dying seconds of the first half. Lancaster wristed a shot in the lower right corner of the net past York goalkeeper Brittney Blount (Ottawa, Ont.).
“We knew it was going to take a bit of time to score,” said Turley. “We just had to be patient because that goalkeeper [Blount] was the first-team all-star. And she played a sensational game.”
Indeed, Blount made several big saves throughout the game as the Gryphons dominated much of the play. But the fifth-year goalkeeper could only do so much. By the 48-minute mark, Guelph had extended its lead to 4-0 on goals by Katelin Dellandrea (Guelph, Ont.) and Kristine Wishart (Hamilton, Ont.).
Lancaster then notched her second goal of the game in the 70th minute to round out the scoring.
With the win, the Gryphons earned a spot in the 2009 CIS Championships, which will be held at the University of Victoria from Nov. 5-8. It will mark the fourth time in the last six years that Guelph has competed at the event.
For her part, Turley thinks that this year’s team has the best chance at taking home a national title.
“This is the most prepared we’ll ever be,” said the veteran coach. “We have four people who are graduating this year, and they came back for a fifth season. So, this is the year to do it.”
But before the Gryphons look ahead to the CIS Championship, they’ll do battle with the defending league champion University of Toronto Varsity Blues in the OUA final on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. The Blues earned their spot with a win in penalty strokes over Western on Saturday night.
“They’re a really strong team,” said the elder Stairs. “It’s always a good game against them.”
This will be the third-straight year that the two teams have met in the OUA Final. Guelph took home the title in 2007, while Toronto regained the OUA banner in 2008 with their fourth championship in five years.
