A silver medal, but paired with a shot at redemption
With a 2-0 loss on March 7, the Guelph Gryphons women’s hockey team earned their fourth Ontario University Athletics (OUA) silver medal in the past seven years. The loss came at the hands of the Western Mustangs who won their program’s first OUA title and head to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) National tournament, ranked second in the country.
Needless to say, the pressure will be high…
Mustangs’ forward Sydney Kidd opened the scoring 49 seconds into the middle frame with what would later be the game-winning goal. Kendra Broad notched a second for the Mustangs 6:42 into the third period, and though the Gryphons fought hard to cut the lead in half, they couldn’t beat Mustang’s all-star goaltender Kelly Campbell. Campbell would go on to earn her first shutout of the playoffs in the victory.
With a 2-0 loss to the Western Mustangs on March 7, the Guelph Gryphons have their fourth OUA silver medal in seven years. They faceoff against St. Francis Xavier University in Calgary in the CIS quarter-finals on March 12.
“I thought it was a pretty even game. We had our chances, but their chances went in,” interim Head Coach Scott McMillan offered after the game. “Today, the coin went up and came down heads, and next time it’s going to come down tails.”
“They worked really hard. We’re proud of the girls. We’re proud of what they were able to accomplish in this OUA season.”
It’s been a frustrating stretch for the Gryphons, who haven’t won an OUA title since their 1997-98 season. There’s a silver lining this year, though, as Guelph has advanced to the CIS tournament despite the loss, thanks to a new rule change that sends both the OUA champion and finalist to represent Ontario at Nationals.
Additionally, new to the CIS tournament is its format: single-elimination. The Gryphons’ first game, March 12 versus St. Francis Xavier University (St. FX), is a must-win quarterfinal. Win, and it’s on to the CIS final four; lose, and they play for pride in a consolation match-up. Needless to say, the pressure will be high. However, at least the Gryphons have been here already this year – in Calgary, that is.
The Gryphons flew out to Calgary for three pre-season games versus Western Conference teams in September, knowing that Calgary was hosting the national tournament this year and next.
“We know we have a really strong program moving forward, so we thought: let’s go this year,” explained Head Coach Rachel Flanagan (currently on maternity leave). She told her girls to remember everything from the rink to the hotel rooms, hoping the exposure would give them an advantage over teams unfamiliar with Calgary’s facilities.
Something else they got exposure to was the rougher style of play in the Canada West Division. Flanagan remembers a 5-1 loss at the hands of University of British Columbia (UBC).
“They threw us around and we didn’t know what to do about it,” Flanagan explained of the match-up. “[But] we’ve been there now, we’ve seen that style of play [and] we have to be prepared to play against [it].”
More fearsome, and immediately pressing, than the West’s more physical style of play is a skilled McGill Marlets side that has won four national titles in the past 10 years – the most of any team in that time frame. If Guelph can get past their first round opponent, St. FX, they will likely face McGill, the nation’s top ranked team (who are favoured to beat the non-ranked Calgary in their quarter final match-up). With three of the country’s top 10 scorers, not including Canadian Olympic gold medalist Mélodie Daoust who just returned Feb. 12 from a pre-season injury, the Marlets will be a team to be reckoned with.
Flanagan knows a tough challenge lies ahead, and admits the Gryphons are underdogs headed into Calgary, but has hope.
“We’re young and we have great leadership,” Flanagan explained. “If we can build on our experience here today [March 7 loss to Western] – that feeling, that ‘Yeah we lost today but it’s not over,’ and [Nationals] is the tournament that means everything – we could surprise some teams.”