The Varsity Blues ended their season by losing to the St Francis Xavier University X-Women in the bronze medal game 3–2 in overtime.
At the start of the tournament Blues head coach Vicky Sunohara explained U of T’s game attitude. “I think it’s very important that we do what we can do and worry about ourselves and not so much worry about our competition. We can only control what we do. Then it’ll give us the best chance to be successful.”
The first period started slowly for both teams as they exchanged shots on net without success. This trend continued into the second period when the Varsity Blues scored first with an Amanda Ricker goal.
However, the X-Women quickly responded, scoring their first goal just under five minutes later. In the second period, the X-Women scored again to take a 2–1 lead. Blues Sonja Weidenfelder scored with just 2:37 to go in regulation, tying the game at two apiece.
With just under two minutes to go in regulation, the game tied, and with St. Francis Xavier players in the penalty box, the Varsity Blues had the perfect opportunity to score and take the lead, but great defense and excellent goalkeeping from the X-Women prevented the Blues from advancing, and sent the game into overtime.
In the extra period, the X-Women would capitalize on a power play to seal their win. With 3:04 left in the first overtime, St. Francis Xavier’s Erin Brophy scored the game winner off a rebound from teammate Jenna Downey. After the goal, the X-Women cleared the bench to celebrate their bronze medal cis tournament victory.
Although the loss means the Varsity Blues will leave the cis tournament empty handed, many Blues players were proud of the way they played.
“I thought we played well — we struggled a bit in the second period but overall we worked our tails off and left it all out on the ice,” said the Blues’ Kaitlyn Bannon. “I think we showed in the tournament how good we are and how much we deserve to be here. We can’t hold our heads down after the loss.”
“We thought we played really well this whole weekend, but it’s always tough to lose,” added forward Ricker. “We played well and we battled hard, and it’s nice to have the whole school behind you.”
The loss means that the Blues finished the tournament in fourth place out of the six teams that qualified.