OSHAWA, Ont. – The UOIT women's soccer team punched their ticket to the OUA final four on Saturday afternoon with a 2-0 victory over the Laurentian Voyageurs at Civic Fields.
 
This marks the second time in the five-year history of the program that the Ridgebacks have advanced to the final four. The Ridgebacks other trip to the provincial championship came back in 2014 in Hamilton where the team won a bronze medal, their first in program history.
 
UOIT does not know who their opponent will be in the semifinal or where it will be taking place because all other three quarter-final match-ups are taking place on Sunday.

The Ridgebacks controlled Saturday's match, outshooting the Voyageurs 19-3 including 10-1 in the first half. Despite the lopsided shot total in the opening 45 minutes, UOIT and Laurentian went into the break scoreless.
 
It wasn't until the 57th minute when Nicole Zajac (Mississauga, Ont.) broke the deadlock when she banked in perfectly placed cross from Jessica Mithrush (Thunder Bay, Ont.) to give the Ridgebacks a 1-0 lead.
 
Ten minutes later, UOIT's Taijah Henderson (Ajax, Ont.) would extend the Ridgebacks lead to 2-0 on a great solo effort. Henderson raced by a Laurentian defender and beat goalkeeper Dina Mandolesi one-on-one.
 
UOIT continued to apply a lot of offensive pressure but Mandolesi made a number of key stops to keep Laurentian within striking distance. She would end up with seven saves in the match. Cassandra Sribny (Pickering, Ont.) would end up with five shots while Zajac had four.

At the other end of the pitch, Helen Frampton (Toronto, Ont.) stopped all three Laurentian shots on target for the clean sheet. Frampton looked confident over the 90-minute game coming out to challenge Laurentian shooters and taking away a number of scoring opportunities.
 
On Sunday, Queen's will be hosting Ottawa in the other eastern conference quarter-final while Windsor/York and Guelph/Western make up the western conference match-ups.
 
Saturday's match at the civic marked the final home game with the program for four original Ridgebacks. Mithrush, Kylie Bordeleau (Cambridge, Ont.), Sara Voisin (Waterloo, Ont.) and Jamie Ryan (Ottawa, Ont.), all who played in the program's first year were honoured by head coach Peyvand Mossavat prior to the game.
 
QUICK LOOK AT THE RIDGEBACKS
Overall Record: 17-2-1
Conference Record: 13-2-1
 
Next match: OUA Semifinals