GEE-GEES CLAIM OUA SOCCER TITLE

The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees women's soccer program has been around for just 10 years. Yesterday in London, they won their fifth Ontario University Athletics title, beating the Queen's Golden Gaels 3-2 in the gold-medal game.

"I was really happy with the way our whole team played," said coach Steve Johnson, who will guide the Gee-Gees into the national championships later this week in Montreal.

The Golden Gaels led 2-1 at halftime, but couldn't contain the Gee-Gees' Melissa Abraham who scored twice in the second half to complete her hat trick.

"That was probably our best half of the season," Johnson said. "The conditions were terrible. It was a water-soaked field, and there was continual rain throughout the game. It was a matter of what team was fitter and better able to handle the conditions. As the game wore on, Queen's wore down."

The Western Mustangs defeated the Wilbrid Laurier Golden Hawks 3-0 in yesterday's bronze medal game. 

The Gee-Gees will face McGill next Thursday in their opening game of the Canadian Interuniversity Sports championships. They will then have another game against the Gaels on Saturday. The gold and bronze medal games will be played Sunday.

Meanwhile, Abraham and teammate Valerie May were the Gee-Gees' representatives on the OUA women's all-star team.

This article originally appeared in the Ottawa Citizen on November 3, 2003. It was written by Darren Desaulniers.