Field Hockey | 9/11/2026 11:30:00 AM

For the first time in program history, the York University Lions field hockey team enters the season atop the U SPORTS mountain.

After a 7-1-2 regular season that was good enough to finish atop the OUA East, the Lions went onto Waterloo for the OUA Final Four. There, they first beat the Guelph Gryphons by a 1-0 score in their fourth semi-final matchup in as many years on a 45th-minute goal from Katie Tye, before turning Toronto red once again with a 3-1 win over the Varsity Blues, beating them in the playoffs for the third time in four years and the second time in an OUA final over that span.

That win qualified the Lions for their second straight Field Hockey Canada U SPORTS Championship, this one at UPEI in Charlottetown. They opened the tournament with a pair of scoreless draws against the Canada West champion Victoria Vikes and the host UPEI Panthers, before capping pool play with a vehement 5-0 win over the Atlantic champion Dalhousie Tigers, setting up a rematch with the Vikes for gold, their second straight meeting in the tournament final. This time, York exacted its revenge, taking the match 1-0 on a goal from Juliet Redelaar with under two minutes to play.

"It was amazing to win our first (Field Hockey Canada) U SPORTS title," said veteran head coach Zeeshan Minhas. "All the athletes look back and still can't believe the way we did it."

Now, coming into this season, the Lions are well aware of what is necessary to repeat as champions.

"They understand how much it took, and how much it's going to take to do it again," Minhas said. "They have a taste of it, and they had a lot of belief last year, so hopefully we will have the same belief this year and we can do it again."

The Lions finished 2025 on a 12-game unbeaten streak, including six postseason matches, going 9-0-3 over that stretch, something Minhas attributed to a strong mental fortitude.

"That's something that was very important," he said of his team's mentality throughout the postseason. "It's not easy to go undefeated in the playoffs, but we had that mental discipline, and everybody bought into that."

The Lions, despite winning their first national title just a year ago, have enjoyed a great run of success over the last decade plus, and humility is another thing Minhas preaches to his group each and every year.

"When you have a lot of success, sometimes you forget to be humble," he said. "This year, we bring that same mentality of discipline, (connectedness) and being a unified (front)."

While the mentality remains the same, the calendar does not, and Minhas knows the Lions must lay a new foundation in order to defend their crown.

"It's ground zero, start over again. That's the mindset," Minhas implored. "That was 2025, now it's 2026, everything is new for us again. That's part of being humble and putting in the work as if we have not done anything this year."

That being said, the Lions do relish in the fact that their competition knows what they did accomplish in 2025 and are trying to do exactly that this season.

"It's a different kind of challenge," Minhas said.  "Everyone wants to come after us and see that this can be achieved, and they look up to us, so that's something we need to keep in mind, so we have to keep working hard and be very disciplined with our approach."

The Lions will present their OUA and U SPORTS championship banners at their home opener on Sunday against the Guelph Gryphons in a pregame ceremony that will also see each member of the 2025 team receive their national championship rings.

"It's great for the new players coming in to see what the level of our program is," Minhas said on the festivities. "We are always looking to achieve excellence, and for them to have a feel for what it takes to win a national championship is amazing...and they understand how much they have to work to keep York field hockey at that level."

Looking at the roster, it remains a very experienced group, with only four graduating depatures from a season ago, including captain Jewel Lew and veteran defender Natalie Brown.

"Those are big shoes to fill," Minhas said of the two longtime Lions. "They've been here (a long time) and have helped the program succeed in their time here, but I'm really looking forward to having Tessa Wang, Julianna (Goddard) and Sabine (Keon) step into those roles."

The Lions do return their core group of Abby Thompson, Jocelyn Boyd, Kathryn Carlow, Elise Piper, Juliet Redelaar and others back for 2026, keeping the team positioned to compete for another OUA and U SPORTS banner.

Between the pipes, the Lions return York women's rookie of the year Ella Ciesielski for her second year after an outstanding rookie campaign taking over for the departed Jade Lew in 2025, and Minhas is hoping for more of the same from the Burlington native.

"I'm looking forward to her continuing what she did last year," he said. "She's got a little bit more experience now, so we don't want anything less than that."

The Lions are also fortunate to return a couple of players from year-long absences in midfielder Emily Esser and goalkeeper Scarlett Kotar, who missed the 2025 season but are added pieces to a team that only brought in three rookies this offseason in Hazel Kwan, Jordyn MacDonald and Mufarowashe Matambo, all of whom have played provincially or internationally over the last year.

"A real exciting player," Minhas said of Matambo, a native Zimbabwean. "We got to have her play with the team last weekend in our preseason tournament, and we're lucky to have her."

The Lions open the 2026 season by renewing the top rivalry in the OUA against the Toronto Varsity Blues in a rematch of the 2025 OUA championship and three of the last four conference finals dating back to 2022.

"It's going to be awesome to start the season against a tough opponent (and one) that we have a history (with)," Minhas said. "It helps us set the tone (and remember) that nothing is easy...and it's important for the athletes to remember (that) and we have to work every minute of every game."

Centre pass from Back Campus Fields in Toronto is slated for 2:00 p.m., while the Lions home opener on Sunday against the Guelph Gryphons begins at 11:00 a.m. Admission to Sunday's game is free.