Gee-Gees head for bronze showdown

Saturday’s Ontario University Athletics’ (OUA) women’s soccer semi-finals saw an exhilarating game from both the University of Ottawa Gee Gees and the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks.

Unfortunately, a hard fought game with several scoring chances proved to be not enough as the Gee-Gees came up short by a score of 1-0.

“We knew coming in that [Laurier] would be a difficult opponent for us,” commented Ottawa head coach Steve Johnson. “But I’m proud of the way we played and we certainly made Laurier work very hard for that victory.”

The Gee Gees’ intensity dominated the first half of the game and brought forth numerous scoring opportunities from both Elisabeth Wong and Gillian Baggot.

However, the most noteworthy player of the game had to be Ottawa goalkeeper, Cynthia Leblanc, whose spectacular game denied the Hawks chances for more goals.

“Honestly, I think we deserved this game,” Leblanc quoted. “But I think at some point we let up and [that’s] what cost us the game.”

The possibility to play in the OUA gold medal game came to an abrupt halt when Laurier’s first-year, Emily Brown, scored a phenomenal goal in the 58th minute of play.

A missed goal late in the second half would be the last chance Ottawa had to tie the match.

“[Laurier’s] got players who are very good in defending situations,” Johnson pointed out. “They played with a sweeper system which is different from what we have seen in the past.”

The loss may deny Ottawa the chance at the OUA championship, but a win in tomorrow’s consolation final versus McMaster promises an opportunity to play in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) championship tournament next week in Montreal.

“Our season’s not done yet,” assured Johnson. “Third place gets to go [to Nationals].”

The Gee-Gees will kick off their bronze medal showdown against the Marauders at 12:00p.m. tomorrow at University Stadium.

“Lucky for us, tomorrow we have another chance,” grinned Leblanc. “We’re going to show up ready.”