March 19, 2026
Guelph blanks Waterloo to reach national semifinal
Martina Fedel turned aside all 26 shots she faced as the Guelph Gryphons shut out the host Waterloo Warriors 2-0 Thursday night in the second quarterfinal of the 2026 U SPORTS Women’s Hockey Championship, presented by Miller Waste, at the Woolwich Memorial Centre.
With the win, No. 3 seed Guelph improves to 25-5-3 (19-4-3 OUA) and advances to Saturday’s national semifinal, where they will play the No. 2 seed Concordia Stingers. No. 6 seed Waterloo falls to 18-11-1 (17-8-1 OUA) and will play Manitoba on Saturday in a consolation game.
In a rematch of their recent Ontario conference quarterfinal series — won by Guelph in three games — the familiarity between the two nearby rivals was evident throughout, with a physical, disciplined contest played in front of a crowd split between Warriors and Gryphons fans.
Guelph opened the scoring early in the first period, as Katherine Heard took a pass in the Warriors zone, skated around the net and beat Kara Mark at 7:15. The Gryphons carried that 1-0 lead through a tightly checked second period, with both teams generating chances but unable to break through.
Waterloo pressed in the third, earning multiple power-play opportunities and outshooting Guelph in stretches, but Fedel stood tall, turning aside every chance to preserve the shutout.
The Warriors’ best looks came off the rush and on the power play, including a pair of posts, but they could not solve the Gryphons’ netminder, who has won five of the six games she’s played since returning from her stint with Team Italy at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Guelph sealed the victory in the final minute, when Katy McKenna found the empty net with 16 seconds remaining.
Mark was solid in goal for Waterloo, making 29 saves in defeat as the hosts pushed until the final buzzer.
Saturday’s Waterloo-Manitoba game is the first of the four games on the schedule, at 10 a.m. The Concordia-Guelph semifinal contest is set to face off at 4 p.m.
NIKE TEAM PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Guelph: Katherine Heard
Waterloo: Lyndsy Acheson
Waterloo: Lyndsy Acheson
