The Warriors travelled to Toronto this past weekend for round two of the 2012 OUA campaign. Knowing that two victories would help propel them into a tie for second in the standings, the players were ready for two tough battles.
 
And battle they would have to as York was the first opponents. York had proven tough to score on in their opening games, only conceding two against Guelph and losing a tight game to league-leading Western, 0-1.
 
The forwards were extremely determined and playing with intensity and their stellar play paid off in the seventh minute, when Alana Raymond (Ajax/) capitalized off good passing play between Courtney Bisch (Wellesley/) and Melissa Lewis (Waterloo/).  Then, not a minute later, the Warriors were up by two when Lewis opened her 2012 scoring campaign.
 
Despite sustained aggressive play by other Warrior forwards, Caitlin Huber (Waterloo/) and Vanessa Guido (Newmarket/), York changed their formation and was able to shut Waterloo out for the remainder of the half. This strong defensive resilience continued and the Warriors were getting frustrated at not being able to put the game away despite having more scoring opportunities in the second half. With less than 10 minutes in the game, York was able to create counter-attacks which resulted in several penalty corners. One of their variations led to confusion and the Warriors conceded an easy goal.
 
Both teams stepped up the intensity and physical play; so much so that Huber received a yellow card in the 66^th minute, resulting in the Warriors having to play short-handed for the last four minutes. However, a couple of spectacular saves by rookie netminder, Hilary Neeb (Wellesley/), on break-away chances by York meant the Warriors would hold on for the 2-1 victory and valuable three points.
 
Sunday was once again a day of action for the Warriors as they returned to Varsity Stadium to take on Western. Every match between these two teams over the past three years has been closely fought and produced end to end excitement. Nothing would be different this time around as a win by Waterloo would place them ahead of Western in the standings.
 
The Warriors started the better team and held sustained pressure from the opening whistle until the ninth minute when Stephanie Snyder (Waterloo/) smashed the ball right through defenders and goalie to set the tone.
 
Unfortunately, the team couldn't find a second goal and play began to shift in Western's favour after 17 minutes, when the Mustangs equalized on a penalty corner. A break-down in communication and marking led to Western taking the lead at the 22^nd minute mark and holding onto the 2-1 lead at half.      

The aggressive and direct play on display against York resurfaced early in the second half and the Warriors were level within the first two minutes of the second half as Huber scored with an assist going to Lewis.

Melissa Lewis (Waterloo/) took then took matters into her own hands scoring both in the 42^nd and 49^th minutes.  Down 4-2, the Mustangs started to throw their weight around and this proved advantageous. Western scored in the 52^nd minute on a penalty corner and began to pour on the pressure as the Warriors found it tremendous difficult in getting the ball out of their half. To make matters worse, a green card at the 62^nd minute to Lauren Aitchison (Oxshott/) and another yellow card at the 66^th minute to Huber meant Waterloo had to play short-handed for the final eight minutes.

Thankfully, due to heroics which included two diving saves on the goal-line by Winnie Huynh (Mississauga/) the Warriors were once again able to hold on and emerge victorious by a score of 4-3.   

The team now sits in second place in OUA standings, only trailing the University of Toronto, who they face next weekend in Guelph at 10:45am followed by a meeting with Queen's at 2:15pm.