York and Queen's post shutouts to advance to OUA field hockey semi-finals

York 2 @ Waterloo 0

BRAMPTON, Ont. - The York Lions field hockey team shut out the Waterloo Warriors 2-0 on Friday morning to open the 2014 OUA Field Hockey Championship at Cassie Campbell Field in Brampton, Ont.

The Lions opened the scoring in the 32nd minute with a goal from 1st year forward Claire Oelmann.  York would increase their lead in the 51st minute when rookie Michelle Per scored to make it 2-0.  Per led the Lions in goals during the regaular season with 4, which tied her for 11th in the league.

York goalie Shanelle Fernando turned aside every shot she faced for the shutout. It was the second shutout of the year for Fernando who also led the Lions to a 1-0 win over McGill on September 14th.

In their two meetings during the regular season, Waterloo defeated York by a score of 1-0.

With the win, York advances to the semi-finals where they will be in tough against the top seeded University of Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday, October 25th at 12:00pm.  The Blues finished the season undefeated with a 12-0 record and defeated the Lions in their two regular season meetings, 4-0 on September 21st and 3-1 on October 19th.

The Warriors will now take on Dalhousie in the 5th/6th Place Game tomorrow morning at 10:00 am.

Queen's 1 @ Dalhousie 0

BRAMPTON, Ont. - Fiona Downey scored in the 34th minute and that would be all the Queen's Gaels needed as they snuck past the Dalhousie Tigers 1-0 in the second quarterfinal at the 2014 OUA Field Hockey Championship.

Downey, who was named to the OUA All-Star team earlier in the week, was Queen's lone representative on the team.  Her strong defensive play helped the Gaels finish third in the league during the regular season.

Goalkeeper Admanda Thoo stood tall for the Gaels and recorded the shutout.

With the win, Queen's will advance to tomorrow's semi-final against the Guelph Gryphons at 2:00pm.  The Gryphons and the Gaels met twice this season with the Gryphons sweeping the series by scores of 3-1 and 5-1.

If Queen's hopes to pull off the upset over Guelph, they will need to find a way to contain the Gryphons 1-2 punch of Ally Chute and Olivia Lane.

With the loss, Dalhousie will now face Waterloo Saturday morning at 10:00 am in the 5th/6th place game.

For a complete schedule of upcoming games, click here.