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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