CIS women's field hockey Friday roundup: Western, Waterloo headed to OUA semis

Source: OUA Communication

WATERLOO, Ont. - The Waterloo Warriors punched their ticket to the OUA semifinals with a dramatic 3-2 shootout win over the York Lions in the opening match of the OUA field hockey championship at Warrior Field.
 
Jessana Wartman (Cambridge, Ont.) scored the shootout winner in the fourth round of sudden death shots to conclude a thrilling sequence of penalty shots.
 
The game opened with both teams jockeying for position with Waterloo earning the first quality chance at the 15th minute mark as OUA all-star Courtney Bisch (Wellesley, Ont.) fired one on York keeper Shannon Vance (Goderich, Ont.) who was equal to the task.
 
The Lions got their first opportunity at goal in the 28th minute as Anna Easty (Toronto) had a point blank chance off of a short corner but the opportunity was put aside by Waterloo keeper Hillary Neeb (Wellesley, Ont.).
 
With no score heading into the second half, the intensity would pick up and Waterloo would find the opening goal as Bisch fired one past Vance at the 39th minute.  Only two minutes later, Bisch would again find the back of the net this time on a penalty stroke to give the Warriors a 2-0 lead.
 
The feisty Lions would cut into the Warriors lead in the 52nd minute thanks to a strike by Adriana Fernandes (Mississauga, Ont.) past Neeb.
 
With time winding down it appeared as if the Warriors were going to fend off the Lions attack but the visiting side had other ideas.  After being awarded a short corner for the final play of the game the Lions took full advantage on a perfect pass by Tracy Broome (Waterloo, Ont.) to Easty who put the ball home to send the game to a shootout for the ages.
 
After a quick deliberation, both teams were ready for the shootout with the Warriors up first.  Stephanie Snyder (Waterloo, Ont.) showed off her trickery bouncing the ball on her stick all the way up field and lobbing it over Vance to give Waterloo the 1-0 lead.
 
The Lions responded on the next shot as Fernandes showed patience to outwait Neeb and fire it home.  After Bisch would miss the next shot for Waterloo the Lions took a 2-1 lead on a goal by Easty, similar to that of Ferandes’.
 
Waterloo would miss their next two shots meaning a York goal would clinch the victory but Neeb stood tall to make her second straight save, turning aside the chance by Simone Saxby (Scarborough, Ont.).
 
Down to their last shooter, Melissa Lewis would step up and equal the score at 2-2 on a nice outside move.  Neeb would make one more monumental stop on Jessica Lamont (Toronto) to send it to sudden-death shots.
 
In sudden-death, the order reversed with York shooting first and Fernandes would put the pressure back on the Warriors scoring her second of the shootout.  Snyder with ice in her veins again pulled her trick move to continue the shootout and game.  York would score their next two shots (Easty, Broome) while Waterloo would respond (Lewis, Bisch).
 
In the fourth round of sudden-death, Neeb would again turn aside Saxby setting up Wartman for the game winning goal.  Wartman made no mistake sliding the ball just inside the post to send the Warriors to the OUA semifinals.
 
The Warriors will battle the Toronto Varsity Blues tomorrow at 12pm while York will play Saint Mary's in the fight for fifth place.