Women's Rugby | 10/10/2025 10:00:00 AM

The York University Lions women's rugby team is back in the OUA postseason for the first time in six years, and will face a familiar foe in the opening round.

York – the No. 5 seed – will take on the No. 4-seed Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday afternoon in the second of two OUA quarterfinals, with the winner to face the undefeated Queen's Gaels in the OUA semi-finals.

This is the second matchup of the season between these two teams, with the first seeing Laurier come into Alumni Field and earn a 59-28 victory over the Lions on Aug. 30. That game saw the Golden Hawks get out to a 26-7 lead, before the Lions roared back to make it a 33-28 game at the half. However, the visitors were able to shut out the Lions in the second half and eventually cruise to the 31-point win.

York will not only be hoping to keep the game closer this time around, but would love to come out on top in what would be considered a mild upset. While the Lions allowed 363 points to Laurier's 134, the Golden Hawks did not have the pleasure of playing the Gaels during the regular season, who put up 160 on the Lions on Sept. 6. The Hawks scored only four more points than York during the regular season, despite the Lions being shut out by Queen's in that second game of the season.

All of this to say, the numbers don't do justice how evenly-matched these teams are. What was a five-point game at the break in the opener was expanded late, but the Lions have showed an immense amount of growth from the beginning of the season, winning three straight games in the middle of the season to put themselves in a position to play this game.

York's best players will have to be their best players if they are going to pull off their first playoff win since the 2019 fifth-place game over the Trent Excalibur. They will need to rely on the likes of Mistura Are, Jahlesha Roye, Alanna Mrkobrada and others to put up points, while trying to control the ball possession game and wear out the Golden Hawks defensively.

While Laurier may have taken the opening salvo – winning the battle – the Lions would gladly take that if it meant a playoff win, and a chance to advance to the OUA final four. Were they to get it done, it would be the program's first non-consolation playoff victory since a quarter-final win over Brock in 2017.

Kickoff from Knight-Newbrough Field at University Stadium is set for 3:30 pm on Saturday.