Soccer kicks off post-season
After demonstrating a show of force over their first-round opponent, Men’s Soccer will travel to Kingston hoping the third time’s the charm. The Blues (8-3-3) will face Queen’s Saturday (10-3-1) after defeating Nippissing (4-8-2) by a score of 4-1 yesterday at Birchmount Stadium.
The semi-final features a battle of second and third-seeded teams, but the Golden Gaels have upended the Blues twice this season, winning 1-0 on October 14, and 2-1 on September 30.
Bolstered Blues streak to Kingston
Thanks to right-winger Neena Gupta’s goal in the 86th minute, Women’s Soccer upset Laurentian 1-0 in Sudbury yesterday. The Blues (5-5-6) face Queen’s (12-1-3) in the semi-finals Saturday at Kingston. The Golden Gaels are the Ontario University Athletics’ best and are the Canadian Interuniversity Sport’s third-ranked team in the country.
The last time the two teams met, it ended in a 0-0 draw on October 14 at Birchmount Stadium. Before that, Queen’s defeated Toronto 4-0 on September 30.
Undefeated Blues favoured for title
With 38 points, Field Hockey (12-0-2) has claimed first place in the OUA standings, earning a first-round bye for the post-season. They will face the winner of the fourth-seeded Queen’s and fifth-seeded Waterloo in a semi-final Saturday at noon in Lamport Stadium. If they win, the Blues will play the final on Sunday.
The Blues ended their undefeated season by playing the second, third, and fourth-best squads in the OUA. They shut out all three teams, defeating York 1-0, Guelph 3-0 and Queen’s 1-0 last week.
For the season, U of T has posted 11 shutouts, including their last six games, and has outscored opponents 62-5.
Lacrosse slashes to semi-final
After notching two wins over the weekend, Women’s Lacrosse (6-4) will face Queen’s Saturday in the OUA semi-final.
As the third seed, the Blues will travel to Kingston hoping to upset the Golden Gaels (9-1). The last time the two teams met, Queen’s defeated U of T 9-5 on October 15.
By tallying wins over Guelph and Brock on Sunday, the Blues were able to tie McGill for second in the division. While U of T and the Redmen each notched a win against the other in head-to-head play, the Blues took the seed by outscoring them 18-16.
Fastpitch falls in final inning
Nearly conducting a repeat of the Ontario Intercollegiate Women’s Fastpitch Association title, the Blues fell in extra innings to Western by the score of 7-6 Sunday in Ottawa.
The Blues took a five-run lead in the fifth thanks to a three-run homer by Karlene Headley-Cooper. In the bottom of the seventh, clutch hitting and a few untimely errors by U of T allowed the Mustangs to tie it.
After taking a one-run lead in the extra inning, the Blues could not hold on as Western scored two to take the championship.
Baseball triples in three awards
The 2006 baseball awards were announced this weekend, and Baseball rounded the bases as they won the top three awards, as well as fielding three first team all-stars.
Coach Dan Lang picked up his second OUA award for Coach of the Year. Last winning it in 2004, Lang managed U of T to a 10-8 record. The Blues won their last three games, propelling them to a third-place finish and a berth in the league semi-final series.
Winning the OUA for Most Valuable Hitter was outfielder Travis Skelton. In 18 games, Skelton collected 22 hits and 20 runs, both league highs, while notching 14 walks and 12 stolen bases. He also spun a .380 average, fourth-best in the league.
On the mound, Jake Gallo dominated opposing hitters, amassing a league-high 50 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.18 over 53 innings.
Joining Gallo and Skelton as first team all-star selections was second baseman Mike Dahiroc, who hit .350 while collecting 10 runs and 11 stolen bases.
Golf holes in second, fourth place
As heavy rain limited the championship to a single-day, 18-hole event, Danielle Greene captured the Women’s individual title for the Blues by shooting a 78 last Tuesday. She was one of four top-ten finishes for the U of T women, who played for the OUA title at St. Catherine’s. The Blues were six strokes too long as they finished second to Western’s 247 for the league trophy.
Jane Jhung’s 86, and Sarah Devonshires’s and Beth Evan’s 89 helped the Blues notch the silver medal.
For the men, Mark Bania and Sean Gibson’s 76 led the team, which finished fourth overall with 310. Waterloo won the title with 294 strokes.
