McGill University Athletics

TORONTO -- Second-year standout Emily Ziraldo scored both goals and led the Toronto Varsity Blues to a 2-0 quarter-final victory over the McGill Martlets on Day 1 of the 2017 OUA championship tournament, Friday .
 
The top four seeds all advanced to the semifinals after an exciting first day of quarter-final action at York University's Alumni Field. The losers from Friday's matches will play in the consolation side of the bracket, beginning with the semifinals on Saturday. The Marauders will match up against the Mustangs at 1 pm, followed by the Martlets and Warriors at 3 pm. All four games on Saturday will be webcast live on OUA.tv.

Ziraldo, who was named a OUA all-star a day earlier, helped punch Toronto's ticket to Saturday's semifinal, where the Blues will face Guelph at 11 a.m. The Toronto native notched what would stand as the game-winner just seconds after the opening whistle. The Blues held a 1-0 lead at halftime. Ziraldo added an insurance marker four minutes into the second half to round out the scoring.
 
Sophomore netminder Elizabeth O'Hara earned the shutout in net.

Ziraldo merited player of the game honours for the Varsity Blues and Emilia Dunkerley was selected for the Martlets, who advance to the consolation round, where they will confront Waterloo on Saturday.

The Mustangs dropped a 2-0 decision to Queen's. In that game, after an hour of scoreless play, the Gaels finally broke the deadlock in the 60^th minute on a goal off a short corner by Sophie Kinley to make it 1-0. Ten minutes later, Cassidy Grimes iced it with a goal of her own to give Queen's the victory.

The Gaels' and Mustangs' players of the game were Ciara Morrison and Marielle Fernback, respectively.

Earlier, the top-seeded Lions defeated the eighth-seeded McMaster Marauders 4-0 in the first quarter-final of the day. Forwards Jaslan Stirling and Montana Merante each netted a pair of goals in the win.

It took a while for the Lions to get on the scoreboard, but once they did, the floodgates opened and they scored four times before the final whistle. Stirling opened the scoring in the 27^th minute, and Merante added another three minutes later for a 2-0 lead after the first half. The same two were at it again in the second half. This time it was Merante scoring first, in the 39^th minute, and Stirling rounded out the goals in the 56^th minute with a nifty redirect.

Stirling was named York's player of the game, while Morgan Renkema earned the honour for the Marauders.

The most lopsided result of the day came in the final game, where Kayla Magarelli notched a hat-trick and her second-seeded Gryphons cruised to an 11-0 win over the Waterloo Warriors. The result was never in doubt as the Gryphons scored early and often, netting six in the opening half alone to blow the game wide open.

Maria Murray and Alexa Corrado added two goals apiece. Melissa Vogl, Alice Stubbings, Danielle Crumpton and Olivia Finch chipped in with one goal each to round out the scoring.

Magarelli's three goals earned her the player of the game award for the Gryphons, while Kendra Puttick was the recipient for the Warriors.