Women's Soccer | 10/31/2026 7:00:00 AM

There is only one thing standing between the York University Lions women's soccer team and its first trip to the U SPORTS championships in four years.

The undefeated Ottawa Gee-Gees.

The Lions will invade the nation's capital Saturday afternoon for the OUA semi-final against the Gee-Gees, who went 11-0-1 during the regular season, their only non-victory being a scoreless draw against their biggest rivals, the Carleton Ravens, on Sept. 25. The Gee-Gees then made quick work of the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks in the quarters with a 4-0 win.

York's road was slightly less dominant, but the Pride still present a formidable challenge for the OUA's top-ranked squad and the No. 3-ranked team in the nation in the latest national Top 10. The Lions went 8-3-1 in the regular season before dispatching the Brock Badgers in the quarters on a goal by Nia Fleming-Thompson in the final seconds of extra time, her second of two goals on the evening.

So, while the Lions come in as clear underdogs, that is a position York will undoubtedly embrace. A clear example came on Oct. 2 against the Guelph Gryphons – the OUA's only perfect team – when the Lions took them to the brink in a 1-0 loss, the only goal coming in the 67th minute from Ella Cahill.

From a numbers perspective, Ottawa is far and away the top scoring team in the country, with 59 goals during the regular season, while only allowing 4 goals, an OUA low. The good news for the Lions? They stack right up with the Gee-Gees, at least on the defensive side of the ball. The red and white allowed just seven goals in their 12 regular-season matches, third fewest in the province and sixth fewest in the nation. The Lions 23 goals don't jump off the table, but are good for sixth in the OUA and provide evidence that the Lions do have the ability to put the ball in the net.

So, what will this game likely come down to?

Game breakers.

Ottawa's Sabrina Mangiaracina finished tied for the national lead in goals with 16 during the regular season with Nipissing's Hannah Neville, and scored twice in the Gee-Gees quarter-final win over Ontario Tech. Meanwhile, Fleming-Thompson's eight goals were the fifth-most in the OUA this season, and she, of course, added to that with both goals in the Lions win over Brock in the quarters.

So, the ultimate question is which team's best player shows up first? Will Mangiaracina show why she is one of, if not the best players in the country? Or will Fleming-Thompson show the Gee-Gees what she's capable of as she did the Badgers, and continue to display the greatness that made her the 2024 OUA West MVP?

And, as is always the case in sports, the postseason has a penchant for making underdogs, heroes like no other time of year. If not one of the two top players, which unlikely source shows up in the biggest moment for their team?

These are the questions that will begin to be answered at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon from Gee-Gees Field. When the final whistle blows, those answers will culminate, for one of these two teams, in a trip to Vancouver to compete among Canada's best in women's soccer.