Lacrosse team reclaims gold medal

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Well, that had to be one of the fastest rebuilds in sports history.

Just a year after suffering from significant roster turnover that resulted in a 7-5 season, ending a streak of six straight provincial championships, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks womenโ€™s lacrosse team once again owns the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) gold medal.

The Hawks downed the Western Mustangs 7-5 in the championship game on Saturday night to re-capture provincial title.

The win was also a source of revenge for the purple and gold as last season, the Mustangs came out on top in the gold medal game, sending the Hawks home with silver.

โ€œIt was absolutely fantastic,โ€ said third-year goalie Hanna Burnett. โ€œIt was the same semi-final and final as last year so we actually did re-claim [the gold medal] it was just a repeat but with a much better result.โ€

After losing just one game all year, the Hawks came into the OUA championship tournament with an 11-1 record, earning them a bye to the semi-finals on Friday afternoon.

There, they met the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, who according to head coach Lynn Orth are always a tough match-up.

โ€œWe have a bit of a problem with U of T every time we play them,โ€ she said.

โ€œBut we were in control of that game, even though the score doesnโ€™t show it. It was a good, hard-fought game, but we were ahead the whole game, we never relinquished the lead.โ€

The Hawks would come away with a 12-11 win, lifting them to their eighth OUA championship game in ten years, where they would down the host Mustangs.

The win signals a return to prominence for a team that dominated the OUA for so long, even going three years without losing a single game between 2006 and 2009.

โ€œIt comes with maturity,โ€ said Orth of the teamโ€™s quick turnaround. โ€œLast year we had a lot of young players and they just didnโ€™t know how to play together yet. This year, we really ramped it up, we worked on a number of different things and then in the second half of the year we just fine-tuned everything.โ€

Thanks to the team being so young in 2009, the Hawks came into this season losing just three players from last yearโ€™s team. That continuity was complemented by a strong rookie class featuring the likes of OUA all-star Ashley Rutz.

โ€œHaving played together all last year and gaining that experience, we were a much better team coming into this year,โ€ said Burnett. โ€œAlso we had some absolutely fantastic rookies who came in and did such an amazing job and were huge contributors all year.โ€

Rutz wasnโ€™t the only Hawk who earned personal accolades this season, as she was joined on the all-star team by Burnett, third-year Emma Pink and fourth-year Amanda Groothuis. Burnett was also named most outstanding player.

โ€œSheโ€™s touted by a lot of people as the best goalie in the league,โ€ said Orth of Burnett. โ€œShe has her bad days like anyone else but even her bad days are still better than a lot of peopleโ€™s good days.โ€

Orth also took home a personal award, winning OUA coach of the year. Despite the Hawksโ€™ six straight titles from 2003-08, this is the first time Orth has won the award.

Back on top of the OUA, the Hawks now turn their sights to next year.

โ€œI think next yearโ€™s going to be just as great,โ€ said Burnett. โ€œWeโ€™ll have pretty much the same team and I think if we put in the work in the off-season weโ€™re going to be just as good, if not better next season.โ€


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