RECAP: Gee-Gees season comes to a close in hard fought series with the Varsity Blues

The University of Ottawa women's hockey team started their OUA playoff push with a best-of-three series with Toronto Varsity Blues.

The OUA quarterfinal kicked off at the Minto Sports Complex on Thursday night.

After a scoreless opening twenty minutes, Ottawa's points leader was the first to strike. Arianne Gagnon received a picture-perfect pass from Maelle Laplante, tipping the puck over the shoulder of the Toronto goaltender to take the 1-0 lead.

It didn't last long. Nine seconds later, Ashley Delahey found the net for the Varsity Blues. Tied at 1-1, the teams hit the ice for an intense third period.

The Varsity Blues logged a pair of goals in the opening minutes, extending their lead to 3-1 with 16 minutes left to play. Toronto fired in one last goal and made it a 4-1 win to begin the series.

"The score didn't reflect how the game went," Gee-Gees captain, Beatrice Bilodeau said. "When we are all playing together, no one can beat us, we need to focus on our strength and bounce back on Saturday."

The second game of the series was on the way at 7:30pm in Toronto. After a quiet beginning to the game, the Varsity Blues found a pair of goals in the final 20 seconds of the first period.

A scoreless second period was followed by an exciting Gee-Gees goal to start the third. Bilodeau buried the puck to make it a 2-1 game. Ottawa was unable to add to their efforts, surrendering an empty net goal to seal the deal for Toronto.

While the 2024-25 season comes to a close, the Gee-Gees made incredible strides with a long list of fresh faces joining the program. Ali Domineco made a statement in her first season as head coach while the team's huge group of rookies each made their mark in their debut season of U SPORTS action.