The Rundown - U SPORTS Semifinals

Four games had been played over Thursday and Friday. Four teams would still be in contention for the gold medal while four teams looked to play out the rest of their seasons with pride on the consolation side. The winners knew that nothing was going to be easy through the semifinals while those who suffered a loss in their quarterfinal games needed to rebound with a big effort if they were going to play on Sunday. The 2023 U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship moved into its semifinal stage on Saturday, so let's see what happened in these games on The Rundown!

Just as a reminder, here's how the bracket looked on Saturday.

Let's not waste any time as we'll start with the consolation semifinal matchups before jumping into the championship semifinal games.

Saturday's first game was one of the two consolation semifinals as the fourth-ranked UNB Reds met the first-ranked Toronto Varsity Blues. Both teams were looking to bounce back after their quarterfinal setbacks - UNB to Montreal and Toronto to Mount Royal. In UNB's tournament last season, they did fall to the OUA's Nipissing Lakers, so they were looking to even their record against OUA teams to 1-1 with a win today. Toronto, meanwhile, was 4-2 all-time against AUS teams, so they were looking to add another win to that total. Kendra Woodland was in net for the Reds while the Varsity Blues turned to Erica Fryer once again!

Toronto came out hungry as they took the play to UNB, and that would result in an early tally as Lauren Omoto's shot deflected off teammate Sophie Grawbarger past Woodland at 2:24 as the Varsity Blues went up 1-0. UNB seemed to perk up after finding themselves down early as they began to push the pace against Toronto. While they'd get pucks to the net, nothing was getting by Fryer until later in the frame when Ahsley Stratton showed all sorts of hustle to get by a check, center a pass to Tamina Kehler, and get to the net to sweep the rebound off Kehler's shot into the back of the net at 17:20 to make it a 1-1 game! We'd head to the break locked at that 1-1 score with UNB up 8-3 in shots.

The second period saw Toronto down a player early as they were caught breaking the rules, but UNB could not capitalize. Minutes later, UNB was shorthanded, but Toronto couldn't make that work for themselves. UNB was again the more aggressive team when it came to getting shots, but Toronto was doing a good job at establishing their systems with zone time. That's how they took the lead when Katy McKenna centered a pass from behind the net to Alli McKeown, and McKeown's quick shot got up and under the bar past Woodland at 18:32 for the 2-1 Toronto lead! At the second pause, Toronto held the one-goal advantage despite UNB holding a 19-9 edge in shots.

As the third period began, Toronto decided to make things harder on UNB when Sophie Grawbarger fed Emma Potter coming into the slot from the half-boards, and Potter found the smallest of spaces past Woodland to make it 3-1 just 40 seconds into the frame! UNB knew that they needed to respond, but Toronto was quite content to make things difficult by disrupting passes and shots, getting into lanes, and playing stout defence. With the UNB net empty and a Toronto player in the sin bin, the Varsity Blues iced when Nikki McDonald's 200-foot shot from her own defensive corner hit the open cage as the Toronto Varsity Blues defeated the UNB Reds by a 4-1 score! Erica Fryer picked up the win with a 24-save performance while Kendra Woodland's exceptional university career comes to an end after a game where she stopped 13 shots.

With the victory, Toronto advances to the consolation final and will await the winner of the StFX-Nipissing game. UNB's 2023 National Championship unfortunately ends with their second loss as they'll begin to prepare for next season.

Highlights of this game are below!

The seventh-ranked StFX X-Women met the sixth-seeded Nipissing Lakers in the second consolation semifinal. StFX fell to UBC one day earlier while Nipissing fell to Concordia, so both teams were looking to get back into the win column. These two teams have never met at a National Championship, but the Lakers are 1-0 against AUS teams after they beat UNB last season. StFX, meanwhile, the X-Women are 8-7 all-time against OUA teams in their previous 15 appearances, so one of these teams would end up with a .500 record against the opposition's conference. Jamie Johnson got the start for the X-Women while Chloe Marshall was in the blue paint for Nipissing.

I'm not certain anyone was expecting the goals in this game to be as plentiful as they were, but Madison Laberge got a friendly bounce as she centered a pass off a StFX defender's skate that ended up behind Johnson just 49 seconds into the game as Nipissing went up 1-0. Less than two minutes later, Lea McLeod circled to the top of the zone where she threw a high wrister towards the net, and it caught the crossbar and bounced down into the net behind Marshall as StFX tied the game at 1-1 at the 2:25 mark!

There was a pause in the goal scoring as the teams exchanged penalties, but a 4-on-4 situation allowed Lauren Dabrowski to jump into the play where she ripped a wrister past Marshall at 15:58 to make it 2-1 for StFX. And 2:54 after that, Maggy Burbidge forced a turnover before playing give-and-go with Lea McLeod, and Burbidge potted the 3-1 marker at 18:52 to send the X-Women into the break with the two-goal lead and a 15-4 margin in shots.

For all the goals seen in the opening period, the second period was all about the parade to the penalty box as the two teams combined for eight minor penalties - four each - in the frame. Surprisingly, there was only one goal scored, and it came early while Nipissing had a player in the sin bin. Vivian Hinch's long shot through traffic dented twine behind Marshall at the 2:30 mark, and StFX went up 4-1 in this game. Again, with the number of visitors in the penalty box, neither team seemed to be able to grab momentum despite the X-Women getting their fair share of shots on the Nipissing net. The three-goal lead carried into the second intermission, though, as StFX held a 31-9 advantage in shots. Not a typo!

Time was obviously working against Nipissing as the third period started, and they lost two minutes to a shorthanded situation. However, Katie Chomiak closed the deficit slightly when she wired a shot from the slot past Johnson at 11:31 to make it 4-2! StFX responded on the next shift, though, as Chloe Vukosa and Maggy Burbidge broke in on Marshall on 2-on-no-one, and Burbidge finished the effort with another goal at 12:17 to make it 5-2 for StFX! Nipissing, not to be outdone, then scored on the next shift as well as Katie Chomiak got credit for the final touch in a scrum around Johnson to make it 5-3 at 13:01!

Nipissing head coach Darren Turcotte threw caution to the wind at that point as he was looking to cut the deficit by pulling his netminder with StFX whistled for a penalty, but that led to another Maggy Burbidge goal as she capped off her hat trick at 16:12. Turcotte, not deterred by the score, tried to prompt a comeback by pulling his goalie again, but the X-Women would put a final dagger into the Lakers' season with Kamdyn Switzer's empty-netter with 43 seconds to play. The final score showed the StFX X-Women defeated the Nipissing Lakers by a 7-3 score. Jamie Johnson picked up the win by stopping 12 shots while Chloe Marshall's fantastic university career ends on a day when she made 32 stops.

StFX advances to the consolation final where they will play Toronto to determine who finished in fifth-place. Nipissing's 2023 National Championship unfortunately ends after this game as they'll head back to North Bay as they look to next season.

Highlights of this game are below!

The first championship semifinal saw the eighth-ranked Mount Royal Cougars encounter the hosts and fifth-ranked Montreal Carabins after the Cougars upset the Varsity Blues while the Carabins upset the Reds. Mount Royal's only wins had come against Toronto, so they wanted to add another name to that list. Montreal, meanwhile, was 7-1 versus Canada West teams, and they were looking to check another Canada West team off their bucket list. Kaitlyn Ross was responsible for defending the Cougars' net while Aube Racine was tasked with stopping the Cougars in the Montreal net.

The first period felt a little each side needed to acquainted with one another as both teams were willing to take chances without giving anything away. The play was quick in a north-south direction, but the Cougars began to get their skating legs as they took more shots as the time counted down in the period. A Mount Royal penalty late in the period saw no damage done, but the Carabins were called for a penalty with 11 seconds left in the period. The time would expire on the period, though, as the teams remain locked at 0-0 with Mount Royal holding an 11-5 edge in shots.

That penalty I mentioned with 11 seconds to go in the first period? It factored into this period as a centering pass to Alex Spence was poked off her stick, but Kiana McNinch followed it up with a quick shot that beat Racine just 1:25 into the period, and the Mount Royal Cougars led 1-0 on the power-play goal! That goal really seemed to fire up the Carabins, however, and they upped their pressure on the Cougars through the period after killing off another penalty. Ross and the Cougars defence were solid through the frame, though, and they'd take that one-goal lead into the second intermission as they saw their shot lead reduced to a 16-15 count.

The third period saw both teams playing cautiously as neither wanted to surrender a goal, but Montreal continued to look for spots to get scoring chances. The teams traded penalties, but neither could convert with the advantage. Montreal would find a break when a bouncing puck was corralled in the slot by Amelie Poiré-Lehoux, and she roofed a backhander past Ross at 10:30 to tie the game at 1-1! That score held for all of 2:13, though, as Emma Bergesen's point shot appeared to be covered by Racine, but Morgan Ramsay spotted it loose behind the netminder and swept it into the net as she falling at 12:43 to put the Cougars back up by a goal!

The Carabins put their heads down and continued to battle hard, trying to find weaknesses in the Cougars' defensive shell. As time ticked down, though, a neutral zone turnover led to Kaia Borbandy scoring an empty-net goal with ten seconds to play as the Mount Royal Cougars claimed the 3-1 victory over the Montreal Carabins! Kaitlyn Ross was fantastic in picking up a second win with a 22-save effort while Aube Racine will play for a bronze medal after a 22-save performance as well.

Mount Royal advances to the gold medal final where they will play the winner of the UBC-Concordia semifinal. Montreal will move to the bronze medal game where they'll face the losing team in that UBC-Concordia semifinal.

Catch the highlights of this game below!

The defending champions were still alive in this National Championship as the third-ranked Concordia Stingers met the second-ranked UBC Thunderbirds. Concordia and UBC met in 2017 in the bronze medal game, and the Thunderbirds defeated the Stingers 2-0 in that game. If Concordia was going to keep the "repeat" option alive, they'd have to beat a very good T-Birds team. For UBC, they were looking to advance to the final for only the second time in their history. Alice Philbert was between the pipes for the Stingers while Elise Hugens got the start for the Thunderbirds.

This game started off at a high tempo as both teams looked for an edge. UBC would go down a player just four minutes into the game, and that was opening that Concordia needed. Emmy Fecteau took a pass at center while flying down the ice, and her long shot beat Elise Hugens on the far side just inside the post at 5:57 to put the Stingers up 1-0! UBC saw that, though, and said "Anything you can do, I can do better" as they went on the power-play a few minutes later and Rylind MacKinnon cleaned up the front of the net in a scramble by putting the puck in the net at 9:52, and we were tied at 1-1! A couple of penalties to Concordia later were killed off, but the teams would hit the break tied at 1-1 and with UBC holding a 10-8 edge in shots.

The middle frame felt like the opening of this game as the pace was quick, but chances were certainly harder to come by as the defences were solid. UBC took back-to-back penalties just past the midway point of the period, and the second one was costly as Rosalie Bégin-Cyr went to the net after Hugens couldn't cover the puck, and Léonie Philbert fed Bégin-Cyr for the easy tap-in from the crease as the Stingers went up 2-1 at 16:06! That would be the only lamp lit until the horn sounded in this period, and we'd go into the second intermission with the Stingers up a goal with the teams tied at 14 shots apiece.

UBC came out to even the score, but it was Concordia who put up a wall at their blue line. Even when UBC got through, Alice Phibert was there to thwart shooters. A UBC penalty at the midpoint of the period would once again cause them problems as Rosalie Bégin-Cyr's long wrist shot avoided the screen, but found the net at 11:46 to put Concordia up 3-1. A penalty to the Stingers minutes later was unsuccessful for UBC, and that might have been the best chance to climb back into this game as Concordia used good defence and puck control to wind this game down. When the final horn sounded, the Concordia Stingers defeated the UBC Thunderbirds by that 3-1 score! Alice Philbert won her fifth-straight game at Nationals with an 18-save effort while Elise Hugens will get another chance in the bronze medal game after she stopped 20 shots.

Concordia advances to the gold medal final where they will defend their championship against the Mount Royal Cougars. UBC heads to the bronze medal game where they'll face the Montreal Carabins in a rematch of the 2016 National Championship gold medal game.

Highlights of this game are below!

The Updated Bracket

With the results above, here's how the brackets look tonight.

The consolation final goes early tomorrow at 11am ET with Toronto and StFX playing their final games of the season. The bronze medal game between UBC and Montreal will be played at 3pm ET followed by the gold medal game between Concordia and Mount Royal at 7pm ET. Of course, you can catch all the games for free on CBCSports.ca, CBC Gem, and the free CBC Sports app!

Heading Home

UNB and Nipissing will be heading back to Fredericton, New Brunswick and North Bay, Ontario, respectively, after they lost their second games of the tournament today, but neither team has anything about which they should be hanging their heads. Both were exceptional teams within their conferences, and both have bright and exciting futures!

While the tournament didn't go how they wanted, these two teams will be back and will give their fans a lot to cheer about when it comes to long-term success. A number of graduating players will move on, but there will be new stars that emerge as these programs rise back to prominance. I stand and applaud the Reds and the Lakers because they gave everything they had this weekend, and they played like champions.

You can't ask for more than that from these amazing women.

The Last Word

There are three games left in the 2022-23 U SPORTS women's hockey season. It seems like this season has flown by once again, but it's been a great campaign of highlight-reel goals, mind-blowing saves, unbelievable comebacks, and some absolutely dominant performances. We started with 35 teams across four conferences and we're down to just six playing on the final day of the season tomorrow. One will be crowned champion.

Will it be the upstart kids from Mount Royal whose program joined Canada West in 2012-13? Will it be the Concordia Stingers whose program won the first two U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championships in 1998 and 1999? One game will determine that answer. Tune in tomorrow to find out if the defending champions walk away with their title intact or if the team that wasn't expected to win defies the odds and wins it all!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!