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The Rams celebrate a goal in their game one win over Toronto.
Photo by Christian Bender
3
Winner Ryerson RYE
2
Toronto TOR
Winner
Ryerson RYE
3
Final
2
Toronto TOR
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Ryerson RYE 2 1 0 3
Toronto TOR 1 0 1 2

Game Recap: Hockey (W) | | Emile Riga

Rams make history, take game one of semifinals against Blues

TORONTO - The Ryerson Rams women's hockey team won their first OUA semifinal game in program history as they defeated the Varsity Blues 3-2 on the road on Wednesday night.

Coming into game one, the No.1 seed Blues had won eight straight games and the No. 5 seed Rams had won five. Ryerson's victory was also their first regulation win against the Blues since 2017. 

The opening period was played at an extremely fast pace, largely because of the sheer speed of the Blues. Out of the gate, Toronto was first to every puck and seemed to be dominating play, until Rams forward Avery Horlock (Pickering, Ont.) performed a stunning solo goal to steal a 1-0 lead in the heat of the Blues domination. The Blues were finally rewarded for their strong play, however, and found a goal scored by Gabrielle De Serres with 7:11 left in the period. 

With the Rams giving up two penalties after their opening goal, Toronto continued to create many chances but Rams goalie Rachel Seeley (Ottawa, Ont.) came up with big saves to keep the Rams in the period. Carrying the momentum from two big penalty kills, Kryshanda Green (Brampton, Ont.) scored with 19 seconds left in the period to shockingly go up 2-1 after the first.

Despite having the lead, the Rams evidently came out playing stronger in the second period, which led to a Lauren Nicholson (Dresden, Ont.) goal in the opening few minutes to give the Rams a 3-1 lead. With two more Rams penalty kills and every line elevating their level of play, Ryerson looked favourable going into the third period.

"The second period is an area of focus for us," said Rams head coach Lisa Haley. "Honestly, we try to approach the second period like it's the start of the game. [...] We ended up really getting it right in the second period and it ended up being the difference in the game," she continued.

The Rams continued their aggressive play in the third and did well to physically outplay the Blues. The Blues converted a power play goal five minutes into the period, but the Rams did well to hang on and even retained enough possession to keep the Blues from pulling their goalie in the dying minutes. "I thought our group did a great job of keeping that decision (to pull the goalie) in the grey area and not give them an opportunity like they wanted to," said Haley. 

In the end, the Rams secured a 3-2 victory to head back to Mattamy Home Ice with a chance to win the series on home ice and clinch an OUA finals berth.

When speaking about that opportunity, Haley expressed, "It's obviously a big moment for us in our program, we realize that, but our focus is going to be very narrow. [...] Honestly, U of T is a fantastic team, it's going to be exciting to watch, and it could go either way, so we'll try to do the little things to make the difference in the game." 

The win was the first in a semifinal series for the Rams. Ryerson reached the OUA semifinal last year for the first time in team history but were swept 2-0 by the eventual OUA and national champion Guelph Gryphons.

Game two of this OUA semifinals series begins at 7:15 p.m this Saturday at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. Not only is a trip to the McCaw Cup championship game available, but also a berth at the U SPORTS national championship.
 
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