London, Ont. – The Laurier Golden Hawks touched down in London this past Saturday to take on the Western Mustangs in an OUA quarterfinal match. It marked the first time since 2017 that Laurier has been in the final 8 of the OUA playoffs in women's soccer. Unfortunately, the Golden Hawks were unable to defeat the reigning OUA West divison champs and move forward to the semifinals for the first time since 2016, with Western taking this one 1-0.
The match began extremely quick paced, reminding everyone that the OUA playoffs are seriously competitive. Laurier striker Jyanessa Sealy had a shot on the Western goal within the first 30 seconds of the match, while Western player Hannah Vickers had a shot on the Laurier net around the one minute mark.
Western opened the scoring of the match at the six minute mark, taking a 1-0 lead over the Golden Hawks. After taking the lead, Western seemed to settle in and controlled the majority of possession which they were able to hold until half.
Going into the second half, Western led 1-0 over Laurier and had five shots to Laurier's three. During the second half, play and possession both became more evenly divided between the two teams. Tensions on the field began to rise as the game continued. Laurier's Nicole Lovisotto and Claire Di Benedetto both received yellow cards around the 60th minute of play.
The Golden Hawks continued to put up a very admirable performance throughout the match but were unable to take back the Mustangs' lead. The final score of the match was 1-0 for Western, a heartbreaking way for the Golden Hawks to end such a great season.
It is sad to see the season draw to a close, but the Laurier team should be nothing but proud of how they competed in the 2023 OUA season, as making the quarterfinals in the OUA is not a small accomplishment.
TOP PERFORERS
It is no easy feat being a goal keeper playing in any game, at any level. Being a keeper for a university level team playing in the OUA quarter finals is near terrifying.
Laurier's Taya Johnson and Western's Samantha St Croix both put up spectacular performances during this OUA quarter finals game, Johnson handled 7 shots while St Croix handled 8. Both handled the pressure with ease, continued to communicate with their teams and rose to the occasion.
