The York University Lions field hockey team took on the Waterloo Warriors in an all-OUA matchup at the Field Hockey Canada U SPORTS Invitational Championship on Friday afternoon at Alumni Field.

The host Lions were looking to clinch a spot in Sunday's Gold Medal match with a victory over Waterloo, who came into the match 0-1 on the tournament after a 2-0 loss to the Victoria Vikes in their tournament opener on Thursday. The Lions, meanwhile, owned a 1-0 record thanks to a 5-0 shutout of the UPEI Panthers on Thursday.

York opened the scoring in this one late in the opening quarter when Avery Davis took a feed through the middle and broke in alone behind the Waterloo defence. She beat Warriors goalie Marielle Fernback on the breakaway to make it 1-0 Lions.

York held that lead through the second quarter, with the Warriors able to generate little offensively against the stout Lions defence which has conceded just three goals all season. They extended the lead in the opening seconds of the second half. On a scramble in front of the Waterloo net, Elyse Ives found the loose ball and put it home to make it 2-0 York through three quarters.

The Warriors found themselves still down a pair with four minutes to go, they pulled goalkeeper Grace Miller – who replaced Fernback in the third quarter – for an extra attacker. Waterloo made a push, with one great chance which was denied by Lions keeper Jade Lew, who made a great pad save.

The Lions were unable to add to the lead with an empty netter, but secured the 2-0 win for their eighth shutout victory of the season, and with it, clinched their spot in Sunday's gold medal final.

LOOKING AHEAD:

The Lions will play the Victoria Vikes to conclude the round-robin in what will be a precursor to Sunday's final after the Vikes clinched their spot in the gold medal game with a 2-0 win over the UPEI Panthers earlier on Friday. The game goes at 12:30 pm from Alumni Field. Admission is free.