Late on the afternoon of March 12, 2022, Mikayla Schnarr (Waterloo,ON/) stood in the southwest corner of an empty Columbia Icefield Arena, in full uniform, and stared through the glass at the empty ice surface.  

Schnarr's top-seeded Warriors had just been upset by the fifth-seed Western Mustangs 2-1 in the first round of the OUA's single-elimination playoffs. Schnarr had come out to play the puck early in the second period, but it bobbled unexpectedly, and she fanned on the clearing attempt. It landed right on the stick of Western's Grace Bellamy, who slid it into the open net for the eventual game-winning goal. After the game, the star netminder stood in that corner for several minutes, in silence, and tried to process the pure disbelief and devastation at the events of the afternoon.

Almost a full year later, on March 3, 2023, Schnarr stood in the same corner of the same arena. But this time, she was in street clothes, surrounded by the other scratches. She was just weeks removed from major knee surgery, relegated to a spectator, as the Warriors were eliminated in overtime by the Nipissing Lakers in game two of the 2023 OUA semifinals. 

The story threatened to repeat itself again this year – Schnarr was injured in the last weekend of the regular season, and Kara Mark (New Hamburg,ON/) made the first three playoff starts between the Waterloo pipes. But with the Warriors facing elimination in their OUA semifinal with the York Lions, Schnarr was tabbed to help save Waterloo's season. 

So, carrying both the figurative and literal scar tissue of past seasons, Schnarr led the Warriors onto the ice for game two in North York on Saturday night. And just over 23 hours later, Schnarr skated off the ice – right past that southwest corner of the Columbia Icefield Arena – after leading the Warriors to their first national championship berth in program history.  

Schnarr made 24 stops in a 4-1 win in game two, and then put up a 24-save shutout in the decisive game three, as the Warriors defeated the Lions 3-0 in front of an uproarious crowd at the Columbia Icefield Arena on Sunday afternoon. 

The victory sends the Warriors onto next Saturday's McCaw Cup championship game against the Toronto Varsity Blues, and it gives them a spot in the eight-team U Sports national championship tournament in Saskatoon later this month.  

"It's been a long time coming for us," said Schnarr, who made a combined 48 saves on 49 shots in games two and three. "Coming out on top yesterday (in game two) gave us a tonne of momentum for today and we dialed that in. These past couple years, we've always come up short. But regardless, we've been resilient, and it's nice for things to finally go our way."  

"She's faced a lot of adversity," said Waterloo head coach Shaun Reagan. "She was one of the best goalies in the country starting out last year, and then all of a sudden, the knee gives out. It was just a long haul back for her. The inspiration for us from Mik is how great she is with the team and how supportive she was through last year. Her and Marky were an outstanding duo throughout the season for us." 

Schnarr's calming influence was evident early in game two, as the Warriors faced elimination on Saturday night at Canlan Ice Sports in North York. Alexa Giantsopoulos got the Lions on the board in the first, but Schnarr's brilliance kept Waterloo down by just a goal after the first period.  

In the second, the Warriors found their legs and dominated the play. It finally paid off on a late-period power play, when Jessie Fennell (Fonthill, ON/) deposited a point shot through traffic and behind York goaltender Emma Wedgewood to even the score at 1-1. Then, with just under 90 seconds left in the middle frame, the Warriors took their first lead of the series when Elizabeth Lenardon (Kelowna,BC/) banked home a sharp-angle shot off of Wedgewood to make it 2-1 after two. 

Before the third period was two minutes old, Paige Rynne (Ancaster,ON/) batted home a rebound for Waterloo's second power play goal of the night, extending the lead to 3-1. Brooklyn Cole (Kitchener,ON/) rounded out the scoring, as the Warriors sent the series back home for game three. 

It was evident early in the decisive game that the officials would permit a higher level of physicality, and thundering bodychecks vastly outnumbered scoring chances. The game was still scoreless through two periods, but Reagan thought his team might have been a bit slowed by the weight of expectation. York led 18-11 on the shot clock, but Schnarr's excellence gave her team the time they needed to find their game. 

"I thought we played a little nervous in the first two periods," said Reagan. "But we've gone through it all this season. We faced some adversity, and we had a stretch where we lost some games. I think that was good for us. We have a group in here that just said, 'let's calm down, and go out and have some fun,' and we fought through it." 

The head coach's message seemed to connect almost immediately. Just over four minutes into the third, Sarah Irwin (North Bay,ON/) took a Leah Herrfort (Palmerston,ON/) drop pass and hammered a shot from the point that pinballed off a Lions defender and behind Wedgewood, igniting the crowd and giving Waterloo a 1-0 lead. Then, just short of the period's midway point, the Warriors laid the proverbial backbreaker on the Lions, courtesy of the reigning OUA MVP: at the tail-end of a power play that she herself drew, Herrfort took a Lyndsy Acheson (Summerland,BC/) seam pass and slipped in alone, ripping a wrister to the top corner to make it 2-0 Warriors.  

Schnarr made a few more solid stops as the tank ran empty for the Lions. Tatum James (Stratford, ON/) rounded out the scoring with an empty-netter, and Schnarr maintained the clean sheet to give the Warriors their spots in the OUA title game and the national championship tournament.  

While making nationals was a primary goal for this Warriors team, they will first turn their focus to the Toronto Varsity Blues, and the McCaw Cup final. It's a matchup Reagan is looking forward to, and he's excited at the chance for his team to claim their first piece of hardware in the 22-year history of the program. 

"I know we're going to nationals, but the McCaw cup is the next prize," said Reagan. "U of T has a great team, and they're at home in their barn. But we're a good road team, and I think it'll be good for us to get in there and play loose. We're going to give it our all, and let the chips fall where they may." 

The McCaw Cup final will go on Saturday, March 9 at Varsity Arena in Toronto. Puck drop is slated for 7pm, and the game will be streamed live on OUA.tv and CBC sports.