Ridgebacks advance to the CIS National Championship
 
HAMILTON, Ont. - The UOIT Ridgebacks are heading to the CIS Women's Soccer Championship for the first time in school history after knocking off the Laurier Golden Hawks 2-0 in the OUA women's bronze medal game Sunday afternoon at Ron Joyce Stadium in Hamilton.
 
This also marks the first time in school history that any team has won an OUA medal.
 
"It is an amazing feeling to be a part of history at UOIT," said head coach Peyvand Mossavat after the game. "This group of girls sacrificed so much and made such a commitment to come out of this championship with something tangible for the school. I could not be more proud of this team."


Less than 24 hours after suffering a heartbreaking loss on penalty kicks to the Western Mustangs in the semifinals, the Ridgebacks bounced back strong and prevailed to book a spot at nationals.
 
"The team showed so much perseverance after the gut-wrenching loss to Western in PK's. Bouncing back like that today speaks volumes about their character and will to win. Hopefully we can take the momentum from this win with us into the national championship."
 
After a scoreless opening 45-minutes, UOIT began to turn up the pressure coming out of the locker room at the half. Sonia Sampogna broke in at the top of the 18-yard box against Laurier goalkeeper Maggie Carmichael, but Carmichael came out with a well-timed challenge and was able to disrupt the run and clear the ball to safety.
 
Just moments later, though, Ridgebacks all-star forward Cassandra Sribny scored the team's first goal of the weekend due in part to an error by Laurier defender Kelsey Tikka.
 
The Ridgebacks sent a ball over the middle for Sribny, but it was placed just out of her reach and appeared that Tikka would be able to easily clear it away. Tikka, despite putting together a tremendously strong game overall, misplayed the ball and had it bounce past her. With Tikka caught flat-footed, Sribny broke in alone at the top of the 18-yard box and blasted a shot through a challenging Carmichael. Despite Carmichael getting a large chunk of the ball, it still got through the goalkeeper and trickled into the back of Laurier's net.
 
Sribny would later be named Player of the Game.
 
Trailing 1-0, Laurier switched to an aggressive 5-2-3 formation and began heavily pressuring UOIT. Ridgebacks goalkeeper Melissa Linton turned aside several chances inside the box.
 
The game was sealed in the 89^th minute off a beautifully set UOIT corner kick. Defender Nicole Zajac sent a perfectly curled ball sailing in front of the net that was headed into the back of the goal by midfielder Rachel Matthews, sending the Ridgebacks into a frenzy.
 
The game's final whistle went shortly after, giving the CIS No. 6 ranked Ridgebacks a 2-0 victory over the No. 4 Golden Hawks.
 
Golden Hawks forward and OUA's co-leading scorer Emily Brown was held off the score sheet in both tournament games, as were the rest of her teammates. Despite a tremendous season, Laurier will be haunted by a missed penalty kick in the final minutes of its semi-final match against the Ottawa Gee-Gees – a goal likely would have sent Laurier through to the finals and given the team an automatic berth at the CIS Championship in Quebec City this week.
 
As OUA is allotted three berths in the upcoming national competition, the bronze medal-winning team, as well as the Ottawa Gee-Gee's and Western Mustangs – the two teams playing for OUA gold this afternoon – will be headed to La Belle Province for the tournament hosted by the Laval Rouge et Or.
 
The last OUA team to win a CIS Women's National Championship was the Queen's Gaels in 2011.