Owen Sound Girls Field Lacrosse will be well represented at the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Women’s Field Lacrosse Championships October 17-19th at Wilfred Laurier University. In total, twelve North Stars graduates, spread among seven different teams, will be competing for the gold medal.
Leading the way will be Ryleigh Elliott with the top-seeded Trent Excalibur. Trent finished a dominant regular season with seven wins to just one defeat. Elliott accumulated 20 points in the 8 games, including 9 assists to finish 3rd in the league in that category.
Trent was followed closely by three teams, the Guelph Gryphons, Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks, and the Queen’s Golden Gaels, each of whom finished the regular season with six wins and two losses.
Local product Kirsten Sutter and the second seeded Gryphons are aiming for their first-ever OUA title. Meanwhile, Queen’s, featuring a trio of local players – Kenna McKee, Tara Meikle and Kennedy Coughlin – captured the 2024 OUA championship, and now set their sights on a title defense.
After a streak of seven championships in eight years from 2003-2008, the Golden Hawks have struggled to put together a winning roster and are looking to recapture gold this year. Wilfred Laurier, seeded fourth, includes former North Star Madeline Linklater on their roster. Laurier will face the University of Western Ontario Mustangs in their quarterfinal.
Since 2010, Western has dominated the championships with seven titles, including the 2023 crown, but they find themselves in unfamiliar territory finishing the regular season in fifth place. The Mustangs were led by Reese Wilkins, whose 23 points in 8 games placed her tied for 6th in league scoring. Joining Wilkins on Western are first year players Courtney Scott, Leisl Stata and Emma Bryan, all former North Stars.
Rounding out the championship field are the Brock Badgers, with Ariawna Mcneil, and the McMaster Marauders, with Michelle Kocher, who will be looking to upset higher ranked opponents and make a surprise run to the podium. Brock will play Guelph in their quarterfinal, while the Marauders will play the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks in the play-in game with the winner facing Trent in the quarterfinals.
The play-in game and quarterfinals will take place on Friday, with the semifinal games on Saturday and the medal games on Sunday.
Queen’s (l-r) Tara Meikle #8, Kennedy Coughlin #9 and Kenna McKee #2 (supplied photo)