Photo credit Scott Stewart TWU Athletics
UPEI 1, Cape Breton 0 Final
AUS Semifinal 1
Laurier 1, Ottawa 0 Final
OUA Semifinal 1
WATERLOO, Ont. - For the second consecutive season, the No. 5 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women's soccer team will play for the OUA Championship as they defeated the No. 6 Ottawa Gee-Gees by a score of 1-0 Saturday afternoon at University Stadium.
With the victory, Laurier also automatically qualifies for the CIS Championship that will be contested next week at McGill University.
In a rematch of last seasons semifinal, it was the Gee-Gees who came out of the gate strong, getting two chances on Laurier keeper Mallory Woeller of Kinburn, Ont., before the match was 10 minutes old.
Laurier would settle into the game and get their first great opportunity a few minutes later. After an error by Ottawa keeper Cynthia LeBlanc of Grandby, Que., earned Laurier a corner, Alyssa Lagonia of Kitchener, Ont., found the head of Krista Cellucci of Mississauga, Ont., but her header rattled off the post.
Hawks midfielder Tania Pedron of Maple, Ont., would have the other great chance in the half but her shot from the top of the box was pushed aside by LeBlanc.
In the second half, Laurier continued to pressure Ottawa, spurred on by a boisterous home-town crowd and they were rewarded in the 58th minute. Forward Emily Brown of Waterloo, Ont., brought down a cross from Heather Malizia of Burlington, Ont., before turning and firing the ball past LeBlanc to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead.
Minutes later, Malizia would generate another chance down the wing but this time LeBlanc punched the ball away before it could find a Hawks attacker.
As time ran down, the Gee-Gees tried to push back but couldnt get a quality chance inside the Hawks box thanks to some excellent work by Lauriers back line. Ottawas best opportunity came off the foot of Tara Condos of Strathroy, Ont., from 30 yards out but was easily handled by Woeller and the Hawks went on to prevail over the Gee-Gees for the second straight year.
"Ottawa's probably the best team we played all year," commented Laurier head coach Barry MacLean after the game. "They created some chances but we created a number of more chances than they did. It was a battle from beginning to end but in the end, we came out on top."
"I remember thinking, I just need to get it in, get it on target," said Brown of her goal. "I was just so happy to see it in the back of the net."
Laurier will now face the winner of the second semifinal game,
the No. 4 Queen's Gaels, in tomorrow's championship game at 3 p.m.
Sunday's game will be the third time that Laurier and Queen's have
faced-off with a championship on the line in the last two
seasons.
As for the Gee-Gees, they will take on the No. 10 McMaster
Marauders in the bronze medal match at 12 p.m. with the final spot
in the CIS Championship on the line. Both games will be webcast
live at www.laurierathletics.com/live.
Tickets for the gold and bronze medal games are still available and can be purchased online at tickets.laurierathletics.com.
Source: Laurier Sports Info
Dalhousie 3, Saint Mary's 2 Final
AUS Semifinal 2
FREDERICTON, N.B. - The Dalhousie Tigers clawed their way into the final of the 2011 AUS women's soccer championship, claiming an exciting 3-2 semifinal victory over the second seeded Saint Mary's Huskies Saturday afternoon at BMO field in Fredericton.
The game started off with a strong push by the Tigers, who dominated and controlled the ball possession most of the game, however, it was the Huskies who first put the ball in the back of the net. In the 38th minute, SMU midfielder Lindsay Millett gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead.
At the end of the first half the score was 1-0 as Dalhousie was unable to even the score, but their strong defensive line kept the Huskies from increasing their lead.
The second half saw the most action, as the Tigers continued to play controlled soccer, reading the field and making accurate passes.
The first Tiger to score was midfielder Joanna Blodgett, who sniped the ball in the back of the net at the 56 minute mark in a cross and finish play.
Dalhousie striker Emma Landry was the next Tiger to score, giving the Tigers a 2-1 lead nine minutes later at the 65 minute mark.
SMU pushed back and less than a minute later, 2011 most valuable player Kelly Burgess brought the Huskies back to a tie game at 2-2 after she buried the ball in the back of Dalhousie's goal.
The Tigers continued to control the play, but the both teams fought hard until the final minute with a berth in the AUS championship game on the line.
In extra time, the Tigers got the game-winner as Dalhousie midfielder Doriana Homerski found the back of the net, giving the Tigers teh 3-2 win.
Sunday's championship game will feature the Dalhousie Tigers taking on the top-seeded UPEI Panthers for the right to represent the Atlantic conference at next weekend's CIS championship, hosted by McGill University in Montreal.
Source: K. Bryannah James, UNB Sports Information
Queen's 3, McMaster 0 Final
OUA Semifinal 2
WATERLOO, Ont. - The Gaels women's soccer team secured a spot in
the CIS Championships and now move on to the OUA finals as they
beat the McMaster Marauders 3-0 on Saturday afternoon. They will
now take on the Laurier Golden Hawks in a rematch of the 2010 OUA
Championship match tomorrow at 3pm.
With a spot in the OUA finals and a trip to the CIS Championships
on the line the Gaels best players stepped up. First it was first
team OUA all-star Jacqueline Tessier of Winnipeg who put the Gaels
in front 1-0.
Fifth year verteran and starting keeper Chantel Marson of London,
Ont. managed to deflect an outside shot from the Marauders just
over the bar late in the second half. McMaster moved the ball to
the middle of the field off of a corner kick and blasted a shot
that was managed but Marson.
In the second half the Gaels were able to limit any McMaster
chances as Marson held strong keeping the game scoreless.
Mikyla Kay of West Vancouver, B.C. got the ball to Tessier who made
no mistake to give the Gaels a 2-0 advantage. This is the fourth
time this season Tessier has scored two goals or more in a
game.
Riley Filion of Alexandria, Ont. iced the game for the Gaels as she
hit the back of the net on a free kick making it 3-0 for
Queen's.
The Gaels will battle the Golden Hawks tomorrow at 3pm in
Waterloo. The game will be broadcast live on the Golden Hawks
website.
Source: Queen's Sports Info
UBC 2, Victoria 1 Final
Canada West Bronze
LANGLEY, BC – CIS #3 UBC used as strong opening half to
defeat the University of Victoria 2-1 in the Canada West Bronze
Medal Match. The Thunderbirds outshot the Vikes 13 to two in
opening 45 to take a 2-1 lead, which they would carry to the end
match.
Alyssa Williamson made two saves to earn the win for the
Thunderbirds, while Stephanie Parker made five saves in the Vikes
loss.
The Thunderbirds Janine Frazao opened the scoring in the 10th
minute of play. The Canada West Player of the Year buried a rebound
off of a Rachael Sawer shot to put UBC up 1-0 early in the
match.
Victoria tied the match up in the 29th minute when Jacqueline
Harrison replied and UBC’s Sawer got her own marker three
minutes later for the game-winner.
Today’s match concludes the season for UBC and
Victoria.
Trinity Western 2, Alberta
1 Final-PK
Canada West Final
LANGLEY, BC – Led by forward Daniela Gerig and keeper
Kristen Funk the CIS #2 Trinity Western Spartans defeated the #9
Alberta Pandas 2-1 (4-3 pk) in the Canada West championship match
on Saturday night at Rogers Park on the campus of TWU.
Gerig was the player of the match with goal in regulation and the
shootout winner, while Funk made four saves in regulation and two
in the shootout to lead the Spartans to their fourth Canada West
Championship (2004,06,09,11). Amanda Black scored for Alberta.
The two teams will now head to the 2011 CIS championships, which
will run Nov 10-13 at McGill University in Montreal. It will be the
Spartans third championship appearance in four years having
back-to-back wins in 2008 and 2009. Alberta will be making its
first appearance since 2002. The Pandas last CIS title was in
2001.
As shootouts go the pressure was a little less as both teams were
going to nationals already. But regardless it did not lack for
excitement. Alberta quickly jumped out to a 1-0 lead when the
Pandas Heather Lund scored and the Spartans Jennifer Castillo hit
the crossbar. Both teams, Darcie Kutryk and Natalie Boyd, hit their
next shots. Then on the third shots TWU keeper Kristen Funk made a
diving save to stop Alberta’s Carleigh Miller, while the
Spartans Colleen Webber hit her shot to tie it at 2-2. It remained
tied at 3-3 after the fourth shots with Annalise Schellenberg and
Alexi Foster scoring. Then on the fifth and potentially final
shot Funk came up big again as she dove to her right to stop
Alberta’s Amanda Black to give TWU a chance to win on their
shot. The Spartans Daniela Gerig made no mistake as she slotted the
ball past Biggs to give TWU the championship.
Source: Trinity Wester Sports Info