The Ontarion
============

GRYPHS ICED AT OW FINALS

Cocky Blues failed to bring Cup for York Victors
By Joan Ronning
February 25, 1997

URL: http://tdg.uoguelph.ca/~ontarion/vol122/6/5652.html

The OWIAA Ice Hockey championships, hosted by Wilfrid Laurier
University, were held on February 15 and 16 at the Waterloo Memorial
Arena.

The Lady Gryphons ended their regular season with a record of 7-5-3,
good for 17 points and 4th place. Only 3 points separated the 2nd,
3rd and 4th placed teams at the close of the regular season, an
indication of the tight competition in the league this year. For
those of you who do not watch OWIAA hockey, you should see what
you're missing. Non-stop up and down action with lots of physical
play was the standard in all of the playoff games. All those in
attendance got much more than their money's worth in terms of sports
entertainment.

A 4th place finish in the regular season meant the Gryphons had to
face the league-leading U of T Lady Blues in the first game of the
playoffs. The Blues had completed regular season play without a
loss, and were able to continue their winning ways.

The Blues won the game by a score of 4-1, with the Lady Blues' Laura
Schuler registering a hat trick during the tilt. Michelle Dunn was
the only Gryphon able to find the twine, and received player of the
game honours for her determined effort throughout the contest.

The Gryphons had a rather shaky start in the game, and fell behind
early. Despite a valiant effort, the Gryphons were not able to mount
a comeback. For most of the game the Gryphons played fine two-way
hockey, but the Blues prevailed.

The second game of the afternoon saw the second place York Yeowomen
up against the third place WLU Golden Hawks. This game demonstrated
what OWIAA playoff hockey is all about: dedicated players doing
whatever it takes to go the distance. Regulation time ended with the
score tied at one each. The game went to triple overtime before the
contest was settled.

York emerged the victors, defeating the Hawks by a score of 2-1.
York's Sari Krooks was instrumental in this victory, scoring the
first tally for the Yeowomen and setting up the sudden death winner.
The net-minding of both teams was spectacular.

On Sunday, the Gryphons met the WLU Golden Hawks in competition for
the bronze. The Gryphons took control of this game from the opening
face off. Krista Lehrbass sniped one past the Laurier tender on her
first shift of the game.

Despite controlling the play for most of the game, the Gryphons came
up empty-handed. The Golden Hawks won the game by a score of 4-2 and
were awarded the bronze medals. Gryphon Tammy Kerr played a terrific
game and justly received player of the game honours. Graduating
veteran winger Lynn Vander Pol provided the helper on Tammy's goal,
registering her last point in a Gryphon uniform.

The Gryphons had to settle for a fourth place finish. As Head Coach
Todd Cox commented, "We owned them (the Golden Hawks), but we could
not put the puck in the net. It has been the same story for us all
year. We more than tripled their shots on goal, but just like in the
regular season not one bounce went our way. What can you say? I am
not disappointed. It would be different if we showed no effort, but
everybody worked hard. I guess it was just not in the cards."

The final game of the Playoffs contained enough drama to impress
Shakespeare. Heavily favoured U of T faced off against the upstart
York Yeowomen. The intensity was high throughout the contest, and
the game went to double overtime to decide who would be this year's
champions.

It seems the Lady Blues were so confident that they were going to
win back-to-back championships they neglected to bring the OWIAA
championship cup with them to the tournament. It is really a shame
that a team that has had as much success in recent years as the U of
T lady Blues does not have enough class to be gracious winners.

Well, as it turns out, the Blues should have brought the trophy,
because this year it belongs to the York Yeowomen! (The Blues did
not get the chance to wear the Back To Back T-shirts they had
printed up for the occasion either).

York defeated the Blues by a score of 3-2. The Blues led the
Yeowomen by a score of 2-1 until the Finnish dynamo Sari Krooks was
able to find the net and send the game into overtime. The action was
non-stop until late in the second overtime period: U of T forward
Lori Dupuis made a costly give away, allowing Shanley White to
rocket the game winner past the U of T tender.

The stunned U of T team looked on as the Yeowomen joyously chanted
"We want the cup!", knowing the Blues had neglected to bring the
hardware with them. It is certain the classy and deserving champion
Yeowomen will not display the arrogance of the U of T Lady Blues at
next year's finals.

The '96-97 OWIAA All Stars were announced on the evening of Saturday
the 15th. Defender Sarah Miller and forward Sarah Applegarth
represent the Gryphons on this year's All Star team. This is the
third and last All-Star award for classy and dedicated Captain
Applegarth as she finishes her career with the Gryphons this season.
Two Gryphons, Krista Lehrbass and Patty Austin, finished the regular
season among the leagues' top 20 scoring leaders. A fine regular
season finish is nice to see for veteran Austin. Patty may not be
back with the Gryphons next year, as she plans to continue her
university studies in Europe.

______________________

Volume 122, Issue 6: February 25, 1997.
Copyright (c) 1997 The Ontarion

__________________________________________________________________

Disclaimer:  The University of Toronto did not bring the Cup because
	     they simply forgot it.  If they were so cocky that they
             knew they were going to win the cup, wouldn't they want
             to make sure they had the cup with them so that they could
             raise it high above their heads after they won?  It is
	     unfortunate that reporters would write such a negative
             article.  In my opinion it would pay women's hockey
             more favour to focus on this amazing win by York instead
             of some contrived story of the University of Toronto
             intentionally forgetting the cup!
                                                    - Andria Hunter
__________________________________________________________________