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BLUES WOMEN ARE NCWP CHAMPIONS

For the second consecutive season, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues , composed entirely of Toronto Golden Jets players, defeated the McMaster Marauders to claim the National Collegiate Water Polo (NCWP) championship title.

The Blues topped the Marauders 11-2  to win their fifth straight provincial banner. Toronto claimed last year’s inaugural NCWP title after winning the OUA title for the previous three seasons.  The win gave the Blues five consecutive PERFECT seasons.

U of T earned its spot in the gold-medal match following a dominant 13-3 win over the University of Ottawa Gee Gees  in semi-final action.

Fifth-year veteran Ana Miroslavic (Toronto) was named the NCWP Championship MVP, while sophomore netminder Rachael Jaffe (Irvine, California) earned most valuable goaltender honours.  Alexandra Kraft (Rancho Santa Margarita, California) and Kassie Fraser (Vancouver) were both named NCWP all-stars.

The Blues lost the opening swim-off but promptly stole the ball at mid-pool and scored on the counterattack to open the scoring.

By the end of the first quarter the team had worked its way to a 4-0 lead.

In the second quarter, the Blues quickly popped in a couple of more goals before conceding a late goal on the penalty kill to end up with a 6-1 halftime advantage.

The Blues vaunted defence again shut out the Marauders attack as Jaffe   turned aside everything fired her way.  At the other end, the Blues struck for three more goals to go ahead 9-1 entering the final frame.

Miroslavic led all scorers with a hat trick.  Kraft , Fraser and Rhianna Wood  (Calgary) each tallied a pair of goals while Caitlyn Tiedje  (Calgary) and Anya Mysak  (Vancouver) added singles.

“The fact that we only gave up three goals and then two goals says that our defence was playing according to what we wanted them to do,” said head coach George Gross Jr., underlining the role the team’s strong recruitment process has played in its performance. “They stuck to the strategy and that’s important to any team concept.”

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UofT MEN CAPTURE OUA CHAMPIONSHIP

The University of Toronto men’s water polo, composed almost entirely of Toronto Golden Jets players, won its second consecutive OUA championship by defeating Carleton 5-3 in Ottawa.

With the championship being held at Carleton, the final took on a decidedly different complexion than last year’s final which the Blues won in convincing fashion 7-0. This time, the Ravens, spurred on by a boisterous home crowd, opened the scoring late in the first quarter to take an early lead and erase any possibility of a repeat shutout loss.

The Ravens doubled the lead early in the second quarter. The 0-2 deficit appeared to wake up the moribund Blues attack and the Blues went off on a  4-0 run to finish the half ahead 4-2.

Carleton closed to within one in the third quarter but the Blues, on the power play, restored the two goal margin near the end of the third quarter.

Neither team could generate a goal as Blues standout goalie and co-captain Emirhan Ozdemir (Istanbul, Turkey) saved his finest work for the last quarter to ensure the win.  Co-captain Sukhmun Hare (Vancouver) led the scoring with two blistering outside shots while single tallies came from Stefan Mitic (Toronto) on the counterattack, Abdelrahmann Said (Cairo, Egypt) on the power play and Marko Avdalovic (Toronto) from the center forward slot.

Ozdemir was named the outsdtanding goalie and was joined on the All-Star team by Milos Radojcic (Toronto) and Euan Scoffield (Ottawa).

It marks the first time the Blues have won consecutive provincial titles since claiming three in a row from 2008-10. U of T wins their 11th OUA title in the past 16 years and 32nd overall in program history.

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U14 BOYS WIN BRONZE MEDAL


 
 
The Golden Jets U14 boys team, under the tutelage of coach Slobodan Stojanovic, surprised even themselves by winning the bronze medal at the recently concluded K-W Winter Classic tournament in Kitchener.

With many of the players in their first year of water polo, the expectations were not high entering the competition. However, the team opened up on Day 1 with a pair of victories against Guelph (11-7) and Hamilton (15-7) before dropping a close decision to the Mavs Red (7-9).

On Day 2, the Jets played their final round robin game, this time against the host K-W team. The teams went toe-to-toe throughout the contest which eventually ended in a 9-9 tie. The tie meant that the two teams would meet in a rematch later on to decide the bronze medal. This time, it was another see saw game but the Jets eventually prevailed 9-8 to win the medal.

Congratulations to coach Stojanovic and all the players!