field hockey champions again.

“We said, ‘We got here, we’re here. We’re going to get what we came for,'” Waterloo Warriors goalie Marielle Fernback.

The University of Waterloo entered the Ontario University Athletics provincial round robin as the lowest ranked team among the four competing teams. T

The Warriors were able to knock off long-time dominant teams like the University of Toronto and Guelph. Warriors head coach Maria Haig said her team took a long time to improve to win the fourth provincial gold medal in program history.

“If you’ve watched, it feels like it’s taken a while, but it’s been a slow but measured progression to the top,” Haig said.

The Warriors now face the best teams in the country in an invitational championship hosted by Field Hockey Canada and sanctioned by U Sports at York University.

Waterloo has never won a national eventWaterloo has never won a national event. The Warriors lost to the University of Victoria in their first round robin game on Thursday. Waterloo faces York University on Friday at 4:30 p.m. Their final round robin game is Saturday against the University of Prince Edward Island. The bronze and gold medal matches will take place on Sunday.

“I don’t think our morale is at an all-time low. We’re excited to play York today. If we win and we win tomorrow, we’ll most likely meet Victoria again in the final, and we’d be more than happy to “I think the result would be different if we played that match,” Haig said.

In the OUA gold medal game, Waterloo blanked Guelph 2-0 to earn a spot at the national championships. Fernback stopped all three shots she faced against Guelph.

“Everyone was there to play. My defense was solid and I had complete confidence in everyone on the field,” Fernback said.

Fernback has been the team’s strong guard for two years now, but she took a slightly different path to the college championships.

“So the recruits are 11 years younger than me,” Fernback said.

Fernback, now 28, began her undergraduate studies at Western University in 2013. She won OUA Goaltender of the Year with the purple and white in 2017. Fernback then graduated and started a career, but continued to play the sport during the summer.

“I was playing in a premier field hockey league this summer. One of the coaches at Waterloo, Alana (Raymond), was on my team and we had the idea of ​​maybe I could come back, maybe- “I could play, maybe I could take lessons again. It seemed like such a crazy idea,” Fernback said.

This crazy idea paid off. Fernback redshirted his first two seasons with Western, so he had two years of eligibility remaining. She took classes at Waterloo last year, continued to work full time and was once again named OUA Goaltender of the Year, while also being named an All-Canadian.

“Everyone here on the team is my friend. Nobody treats me any different. I don’t think about it, like some of my best friends on the team are the younger ones,” Fernback said.

Fernback said she is also enjoying school again.

“I love learning for fun. It’s so cool. I’ve done the work, and it’s hilarious, I’m actually doing better than I did in undergrad,” Fernback said.

“It’s a pretty incredible story to have taken this time off, come back. She also won Goalie of the Year and All-Canadian last year. The two biggest awards that “You can win in our sport for a goalie last year. Then she obviously had a phenomenal season again this year,” Haig said.

Fernback said his journey is a great example of continuing to do what you love.

“Don’t ever think that something is finished or unachievable. I finished my career in about 2018, that’s what I thought. I was like, ‘This is it. It’s done. It’s over.’ Now look at where I am today, it’s just mind-blowing to really sit and think about it,” Fernback said.

Maria Haig, head coach, University of Waterloo field hockey team. (Source:/OUA)

Hockey and victories in head coach Haig’s blood. She spent five years playing on the Warriors field hockey team. She also spent ten years coaching the team, winning U Sports women’s field hockey coach of the year last year. She is also the daughter of Lisa Bauer Leahy, a member of the Waterloo Athletic Hall of Fame and all-time leading scorer in field hockey, who also represented Canada at the 1984 Olympics. Haig’s great-uncle is Father David Bauer, member of the Ice Hockey Hall of Fame.

“I’m the oldest in my family, I have six younger siblings and I’m the only one who went to Waterloo. So I like to think that I’m the one carrying on that tradition and I’m very proud of do it,” Haig said.

Win or lose at nationals, Fernback knows this is her last year of eligibility, but she plans to continue playing the sport no matter what.

“I’m going to play until I can’t walk. Like I can’t give up this sport. I love it,” Fernback said.