On March 13, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues women’s hockey team lost 2–3 in the U SPORTS championship quarterfinals to the Mount-Royal University (MRU) Cougars. The loss ends the Blues hopes at a national championship. 

Cougars forward Breanne Trotter scored late in the third period advancing her team to the semifinals. 

What happened 

The first period saw little action until there were 45 seconds left, when Cougars forward Courtney Kollman snuck between the Blues’ defense, burying the cross crease pass to give the Cougars a 1–0 lead heading into intermission.  

The Blues fortune changed in the second period, when they got an early scoring chance that was so close to going in that Blues forward Sophie Grawbarger threw her arms up in celebration, but the puck stayed out.  

The Blues tied the game seven minutes into the period when forward Juliette Blais-Savoie found defensive player Caroline Eagles in the slot. Eagles shot beat Cougars goaltender Kaitlyn Ross glove side to even the score. 

With 55 seconds left in the period, it was the Blues’ turn to get a late goal. Blues defender Emma Potter went to the front of the Cougars net undetected and received a pass from Blues captain Taylor Trussler. Potter beat Ross to give the Blues a 2–1 lead going into intermission.

Midway through the third period, Cougars defensive player Jori Hansen-Young ripped a shot through traffic beating a screened Erica Fryer and tying the game at two. The Cougars took the lead late in the third period when Trotter scored, with three minutes and 45 seconds left in the game. 

The Blues pushed for an equalizer with the empty net and threw everything they had at the Cougars but unfortunately, MRU pulled off the upset, defeating the Blues 3–2 and ending their hopes at a national championship.

What’s next 

The Blues won their 19th McCaw Cup this season and will now try and continue to grow from their success, with the hope of reaching the end goal of a national championship. There is  alot to be proud of and lots to work on for a Blues squad that had what felt like a magic 2023 season.