Field Hockey | 10/16/2025 10:00:00 AM
Riding the high of four straight shutout victories, the York University Lions field hockey team is getting set to renew acquaintances with its biggest rival – the Toronto Varsity Blues – with a lot on the line, in a battle of two teams headed in the exact same direction.
The Varsity Blues come in winners of four straight against the Queen's Gaels and McGill Martlets, as are the Lions. And, just like the Lions, all four of those wins have come via shutouts. These four wins come after the Blues were forced to forfeit their opening two games, which go down as 1-0 losses, before another 1-0 defeat in their first game action of the season on Sept. 27 against the Waterloo Warriors.
Those early season forfeitures have helped the Lions vault to and stay at the top of the OUA East with a 6-1-1 record. York can clinch the division with a win or tie in either of the season's final two games. This is a set of games that will serve as a real measuring stick for the Lions, who despite being in first place, haven't been able to get a true gauge on how they stack up with their mid-town rivals, given they've played two less games.
The Lions will be looking to earn a regular season win over the Blues for the first time since September 4, 2023, a 3-1 win for York on home turf at Alumni Field. Since 2021, the Lions have gone 3-9-2 against the Varsity Blues, including the postseason. However, two of those wins came in the playoffs: the 2022 OUA Championship and the 2024 OUA bronze medal game. One of the losses came in the 2023 OUA title game, preventing York from playing in and hosting a national championship, but while wins against Toronto have been hard to come by since the pandemic, it's hard to argue their timing on a pair of important postseason victories.
The Lions will, as they always do, lean heavily on Kathryn Carlow, who scored a hat-trick Sunday against the Gaels and now has nine on the season to lead the OUA. The defensive structure that has been another hallmark of the team's success will be tested against a Varsity Blues team with 21 goals to its name in the last four games. Toronto has also only allowed a single goal (excluding 1-0 forfeitures) in the six games it has played this season, and none in the last five.
This weekend will come down to which team's strengths hold up. In matchups between two teams with near identical strengths and styles of play, the level of intrigue all lies in who breaks through the proverbial wall. Will we see an offensive explosion for one or both teams, or will defence and goalkeeping win the day? The Lions are hoping they are the ones to achieve the aforementioned breakthrough and earn their second OUA East Division title in three years.
Saturday's game from Back Campus Fields at U of T begins 1:00 pm, while Sunday's rematch at Alumni Field is a 2:00 pm start. Admission to Sunday's game is free.
