U SPORTS PREVIEW: Gee-Gees in Elmira for the U SPORTS National Championship, open with Friday night quarterfinal battle against UNB Reds

The University of Ottawa women's hockey team is set to make their 2026 Miller Waste U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship. This marks the program's first national championship appearance since the 2008-09 season.

The Gee-Gees qualified for the tournament as the OUA finalist and are seeded at #5 (OUA finalists: 15-9-2, 4-3). Their first game of the tournament is set for Friday night at 7:00pm against the fourth seeded UNB Reds (AUS champions: 20-6-2, 5-2).

"We're playing our best hockey, you have to be to get here," said Gee-Gees head coach, Alison Domenico. "It's such a privilege to be here and it's an exciting opportunity."

Saturday's action starts with two consolation games at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., with semifinals set for 4 and 7 p.m. On Sunday, the fifth-place game will get underway at 8 a.m., with the bronze-medal game following at 11 a.m. and the championship at 3 p.m. 

All games will be broadcast live on CBC Sports digital platforms in English. In French, all games will be on Radio Canada's digital platforms, with Sunday's gold medal game also being aired on CBC and TVA Sports.

Regular Season Summary:

Ottawa started the regular season with a four-game winning streak which included two shutouts by Clara Génier in the opening two games against Toronto and Waterloo. Génier went on to establish a new team record with 5 shutouts in the regular season.

 This strong start led to the team being ranked no. 8 and no. 9 on Oct 28 and Nov 4, respectively, before hovering on the edge of the Top 10 for the remainder of the season.

A five-game win streak helped the Gee-Gees close out the regular season winning 6 of 7, clinching second place in the OUA East.

The team held the 4th best power play percentage in U SPORTS, converting on 19.8 percent of their 91 opportunities (18 goals), while also boasting the fifth-best penalty kill in U SPORTS at 89.9 percent. Overall, the team averaged 2.58 goals per game (12th U SPORTS, 6th OUA) and 1.82 goals against (9th U SPORTS, 3rd OUA).

Leaders:

Points: Gillian Warren 30, Maelle Laplante 18, Naomi Morin 17, Alexa Pongo 16

Goals: Gillian Warren 16, Rebecca Morissette 9, Alex Ferguson 8, Béatrice Bilodeau 7

Assists: Maelle Laplante 17, Gillian Warren 14, Naomi Morin 12, Alexa Pongo 10

Primary Goaltender: Clara Génier - 1.87 GAA (2nd in team history), .927 Save %, 12 wins, 484 saves, 1223 minutes

Playoff Summary:

Ottawa won all three of its OUA postseason home games, including Games 2 and 3 of the OUA quarterfinal series vs Toronto.

Ottawa then took Game 1 of the semifinal against Laurier at home before closing out the series in a high stakes Game 3 on the road. The overtime win over the Golden Hawks sent the Gee-Gees to their first ever McCaw Cup final and punched their ticket to the U SPORTS national championship.

In the McCaw Cup, the Gee-Gees fell 2-1 to the Guelph Gryphons.

Playoff leaders:

Points: Alex Ferguson 8, Alexa Pongo 7, Gillian Warren 6, Reece Mepham 5, Maelle Laplante 5

Goals: Alex Ferguson 4, Beatrice Bilodeau 3, Gillian Warren 2, Reece Mepham 2, T.J. Flores 2, Naomi Morin 2

Assists: Alexa Pongo 6, Alex Ferguson 4, Maelle Laplante 4, Gillian Warren 4

Primary Goaltender: Clara Génier – 2.11 GAA, .934 Save %, 7 wins, 426 minutes