Toronto, ON – There is something beautiful about the finality of the U SPORTS OUA McCaw Cup. 

12 teams play 28 games and potentially up to six more playoff games, all for this single 60-minute opportunity. The chance to etch yourself into a moment in OUA history. 

At the same time, that moment can feel different depending on the perspective.

For the Toronto Varsity Blues, it might honestly almost feel a little old hat at this point. The 19-time OUA champions have been in this position three times in the last four seasons, including back-to-back times at Varsity Arena. 

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For the Waterloo Warriors, though, it’s a little different. They have chased this moment for 22 seasons. 

Since the program was founded in 2002, the Warriors have never reached the summit of the OUA and previously only reached the McCaw semifinal twice, losing to the Guelph Gryphons in 2017 and the Nipissing Lakers a season ago. 

Waterloo’s history in recent McCaw Cup playoffs has been filled with frustration. In 2022, the top-seeded Warriors lost an upset to the Western Mustangs in the opening round before reaching the semifinal a year ago and losing twice in overtime to Nipissing to be eliminated.

This season, the Warriors, led by their star duo of Leah Herrfort and Tatum James, who landed third and fourth in OUA scoring, finished comfortably in second place in the West Division, prompting a quarterfinal matchup with the Laurier Golden Hawks, which the Warriors swept.

In the semifinal, the Warriors dropped game one at home, but a 4-1 win at York sent the series back to Waterloo for the deciding game three, where Mikayla Schnarr stopped 24 saves in a 3-0 shutout win to send Waterloo to the McCaw Cup for the first time ever. 

“The last two years, we’ve come just short, and it’s been super frustrating, but to see it come together and to finally get results is really special,” Leah Herrfort told 49 Sports. 

The Warriors now have a chance to do something that few ever get to do: be the team to etch their names into the McCaw Cup outright, not only for their first time but the first time in their program’s history.

“Not many people get the opportunity to do something like this, so I’m super grateful for that, Herrfort said.

“I do know that we’re not done; there’s more to come, and there’s more history to be made.”

Varsity Blues look to end era with one more win

While it might feel like a new beginning for Waterloo, it almost feels like the end of an era for the Varsity Blues. 

This Varsity Blues roster sees 13 players graduate this season, including captain Taylor Trussler and longtime star goaltender Erica Fryer. After a sustained run of success with two McCaw Cups in 2020 and 2023, it feels like 2023-2024 might very well be the “last dance” scenario for this Toronto core.  

This season, led by Trussler with ten goals and 23 points, the Varsity Blues’ balanced scoring was the second strongest in the OUA, potting 82 goals. After 102 regular season games and two championship wins already, Trussler will play her final game in the blue and white in the 2024 McCaw Cup, and the moment is not lost on the veteran.

“I’m really excited,” Trussler told 49 Sports. “I’m sure it will be a pretty emotional game regardless of how it goes.”

With Fryer leading in net with the second-best goals-against-average in the OUA at 1.39, the Blues finished second in the East division behind the Nipissing Lakers. That gave them a first-round matchup with the Queen’s Gaels, where an Abby Howland double overtime goal kept them alive in game two before they took a 6-1 game three win to advance.

In their semifinal with the Guelph Gryphons, a goalie duel almost undersells the series. Erica Fryer and Guelph’s Martina Fedel allowed a combined five goals in three games. 

Fedel earned the 1-0 shutout in game one, but after Toronto won 3-1 in game two, Fryer stopped 31 for the 1-0 shutout in game three, sending Toronto back to the McCaw Cup. 

For a Toronto team that had a 16-game winning streak at one point the previous season en route to their 2023 McCaw Cup win, this year has definitely been the hardest.

“Honestly, we didn’t have an outstanding perfect season this year compared to other years,” Trussler added. “This year, it took a lot of heart to get through the playoffs.”

The two times Toronto squared off with Waterloo in the regular season, Toronto came out on top, with the Varsity Blues taking a 3-0 win in November and a 5-1 win in January. 

“Toronto’s one of those teams that we just have had trouble with,” Herrfort said, with Waterloo bound for the U SPORTS tournament for the first time regardless of the final result. “But if you look at it, we also had trouble with York, and we were able just to grind away and get a win.”

Fans can tune into the U SPORTS OUA McCaw Cup on March 9, and the U SPORTS Women’s Hockey University Cup from March 14-17 live on cbcsports.ca, CBC Gem, and the CBC Sports app.