With their regular season finished, four University of Toronto Varsity Blues teams head into playoffs this week and begin their quest for an OUA title.
The men’s hockey team is set for a best-of-three series versus the sixth-place Ryerson Rams starting Wednesday night (Feb. 17) at Varsity Arena. The Blues will then travel to George Bell Arena for game two on Thursday before hosting game three (if necessary) back at Varsity on Saturday, Feb. 20. The puck is set to drop at 7:30 p.m. all three nights.
After starting the season 6-7-3, the Blues men’s hockey team came back after the December break to win nine of their remaining 12 games. Toronto climbed the OUA East standings and finished the regular season in third place with a 15-9-4 record. Second-year forward Byron Elliott (Burlington, Ont.) finished fourth in the OUA scoring race with 22 goals and 22 assists in 27 games.
The Varsity Blues women’s hockey team starts their run at an OUA title this Saturday in Guelph, Ont. where they will face the Gryphons in and OUA sudden-death quarter-final game. The Blues defeated the Gryphons 4-1 in their last regular-season game (Feb. 14) to finish in fifth place with a 14-11-2 record.
Toronto is led by third-year forwards Lindsay Hill (Ajax, Ont.), Brenley Jorgensen (Kingston, Ont.) and Karolina Urban (Kamloops, B.C.). The three forwards finished the season on the OUA leader board – Hill and Jorgensen tied for sixth with 30 points and Urban was right behind with 28 points.
U of T’s women’s basketball team heads to Kingston, Ont. for an OUA East quarter-final match-up versus the Queen’s Gaels on Wednesday night. The Blues won their last two regular-season games versus the York Lions and Laurentian Lady Vees to finish the season 11-11 and in sixth place in the division
Fourth-year forward Nicki Schutz (Toronto) led the team and was ranked second in the OUA with 11 rebounds and third with 17.95 points per game.
Back at home, the Blues OUA East leading women’s volleyball team hosts the fourth-place Ottawa Gee-Gees on Friday night at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym at 7 p.m. Named the OUA team of the month in January, Toronto continued their winning ways through the second half of the season, taking nine of their last 10 games. The Blues finished atop the OUA East division with an impressive 14-5 record.
Three-time OUA all-star Heather Bansley was ranked first on the OUA leader board in points per game (5.17), kills per game (4.26) and serving aces per game (0.70).
TICKETS for U of T home games are $10 for adults, $5 for youth and non-U of T students, U of T students and children 12 and under are free. Advance sales are available through http://www.ticketbreak.com or by calling 1.866.9.GET TIX (943-8849).
For more information, scores and highlights on your favourite Toronto teams, please visit the home of the Varsity Blues at http://www.varsityblues.ca.
