The Waterloo Warriors women's hockey team had their five-game winning streak snapped on Friday night, but it took them less than 24 hours to start a new one.
The black and gold dropped a 5-1 decision on Friday night at home against the Toronto Varsity Blues, but they bounded back in a big way on Saturday afternoon, with a 6-2 road win over the Windsor Lancers.
The split moves the Warriors to 11-6-1 on the year, as they continue to sit in second place in the OUA West division. And, despite the defeat on Friday, the Warriors still registered a big win off the ice - their jersey auction raised over $5500 for the Canadian Mental Health Association of Waterloo Wellington, as part of the team's inaugural mental health awareness game.
Toronto 5, Waterloo 1
On Friday night against Toronto, the defending McCaw Cup champions came out firing on all cylinders. In addition to outshooting the Warriors 14-3 in the opening period, Emma Irwin and Ally McKeown scored goals 59 seconds apart, as Toronto took a 2-0 lead into the second period.
Nikki McDonald stretched the Toronto lead to three early in the middle frame, but The Warriors pushed back and grabbed some momentum when Leah Herrfort (Palmerston,ON/) found the back of the net to cut the deficit to 3-1. Waterloo continued their push later in the second, but Toronto keeper Erica Fryer proved tough to beat all evening. After a flurry of action in front of Fryer failed to render a goal for Waterloo, the Blues added a fourth marker when Sophie Grawbarger slapped home a loose puck on a scramble in front.
Toronto captain Taylor Trussler rounded out the scoring in the third period, when her shot pinballed through traffic and past Mikayla Schnarr (Waterloo,ON/), making the final 5-1 for the visitors.
Waterloo 6, Windsor 2
The Warriors were quick to bounce back after their first defeat in 2024, as they traveled west down a snowy highway 401 to face Windsor. The Warriors once again allowed the first goal, when Jaden Cherry beat Kara Mark (New Hamburg,ON/) just past the six-minute mark of the first. But the visitors weren't trailing for long - Madison Pritchard (Richards Landing,ON/) one-timed a perfect feed from Keiara Raitt (Ancaster,ON/) to even things up, and then Andrea Murray (Mississauga,ON/) scored her third of the season just 18 seconds later, giving Waterloo a 2-1 lead.
The see-saw first period continued into the late stages, when Jessica Legault snuck a shot through a screen to even things up at 2-2 after twenty minutes.
The game stayed tied well into the second, but the hottest goal-scorer in the OUA finally broke through - Leah Herrfort (Palmerston,ON/) beat Windsor keeper Kristen Swiatoschik to extend her goal streak to four games, and give her Warriors a 3-2 lead. Before the period was out, Raitt doubled the Waterloo advantage, and the visitors took a 4-2 lead into the third.
The Warriors kept their foot on the gas, and Herrfort made it six goals in four games this month when she potted a power-play marker early in the third. In the game's waning moments, Tatum James (Stratford, ON/) scored into the empty net to round out the scoring.
Jessie Fennell (Fonthill, ON/) was the catalyst for Waterloo's explosive offense, as the blueliner registered four assists in the win. Raitt, Pritchard, and James all had two-point nights, while Mark made 28 saves for the victory.
The Warriors will now return home for a pair of afternoon games this upcoming weekend, as they face the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks on Saturday, January 20, and the Nipissing Lakers on Sunday, January 21. Both games face off at 2:30pm.
