The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men’s and women’s water polo teams will look to defend their provincial titles at the 2009 OUA championships this weekend (Nov. 28-29) at McMaster University.

The Blues men’s team went undefeated (10-0) in the regular season and are the number one ranked team heading into the weekend. Toronto will be gunning for their sixth championship title since 2002 when they take on the No. 4 York Lions (4-6-0) in the first semifinal on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

Alan Chung (Ajax, Ont.) has been the biggest playmaker for the Blues this season. As a first-year player, he topped the team with 31 goals, followed closely by fellow rookie Luke Spooner (Auckland, New Zealand). Spooner netted 27 goals during the season, finishing fifth in the OUA scoring race.

U of T finished the season with six top-20 goal scorers, the most of any team in the OUA, including rookies Tuna Tali (Istanbul) with 24, Calum Kendrick (Ottawa) with 19 and Graeme Myers (Toronto) with 16.

The Varsity Blues women’s team finished the season in second place with a 6-2 record. Toronto’s two losses came at the hands of the No. 1 ranked Carleton Ravens. The Blues title defence begins when they take on the No. 3 McMaster Marauders in semi-final action on Saturday at 7 p.m.

The Blues continued their offensive dominance this season as Nicole Brown (Burlington, Ont.), Laura Shaw (Vancouver) and Casey Pottier (Kitchener, Ont.) finished 1-2-3 in OUA scoring with 23, 22 and 20 goals respectively. As a rookie, Pottier has become a critical element to the Blues success this season. In their Nov. 1 match against McMaster, she was right up there with veteran player Brown, as they tallied five goals apiece.

Even more impressive, Pottier netted seven goals alone against the Marauders on Nov. 9, four of which were scored in the first half to help the Blues to a cushy nine-point lead.

Toronto went 2-0 against McMaster this season by scores of 12-4 and 21-7.

2009 OUA WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIPS @ MCMASTER UNIVERSITY

Saturday, Nov. 28

Women’s Semifinals
No. 4 Queen’s vs. No. 1 Carleton – 5:30 p.m.
No. 3 McMaster vs. No. 2 Toronto – 7 p.m.

Men’s Semifinals
No. 4 York vs. No. 1 Toronto – 1:30 p.m.
No. 3 McMaster vs. No. 2 Carleton – 3 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 29

Women’s
Bronze Medal Match – 11:40 a.m.
Gold Medal Match – 3 p.m.

Men’s
Bronze Medal Match – 10 a.m.
Gold Medal Match – 1:20 p.m.

Source: OUA