March 5, 2005
TORONTO AND LAURIER TO MEET IN GOLD MEDAL GAME
SEMI-FINAL #1 RECAP
TORONTO - A first period power play goal held up as the game-winner as the
nation's second-ranked Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks survived a scare from
the eighth-ranked Brock Badgers. Laurier added a pair of goals into the
empty net to earn a 3-0 victory and place in Saturday's OUA Women's Hockey
Championship Final.
The defending OUA champion Golden Hawks carried much of the play in the
opening twenty minutes and were rewarded with three and a half minutes
remaining in the period. After a questionable roughing penalty to Brock's
Kate Allgood (Toronto), Laurier capitalized. Amanda Joseph (Oakville, Ont.)
sent a soft pass across the goalmouth that Laurissa Kenworthy (Newmarket,
Ont.) calmly tucked in behind the Badgers' Angie Mallory (Kanata, Ont.).
OUA East Coach of the Year Todd Erskine must have motivated the troops with
his first intermission pep-talk because Brock came out flying in the
second. The Badgers out-shot Laurier 8-5 in the period and out-chanced them
4-1. Their best opportunity came with a minute remaining in the second.
Heather Goemans (Guelph, Ont.) slipped between a pair of Golden Hawk
defenders and fired a shot from the slot that just grazed the post.
In a back-and-forth third period, Brock almost had a 1-1 tie handed to
them. Laurier defender Lauren Meschino (Toronto) coughed up the puck at her
own blueline, sending Jackie McCauley (London, Ont.) in all alone on OUA
Player of the Year Cindy Eadie (Brantford, Ont.). McCauley elected to shoot
and flipped a wrist shot right into the outstretched glove of Eadie.
In the final minute of play, Andrea Bevan (Collingwood, Ont.) and Joseph
each scored into the empty net to secure the win.
Both goaltenders were named the Sherwood Hockey Players of the Game.
Mallory made 22 saves for Brock, while Eadie stopped 17 Bagders shots to
earn the shutout, her eleventh of the season.
"You have to give Brock a lot of credit for the way they came out in the
second," said Laurier Head Coach Rick Osborne. "That was a real wake-up
call for us and a reminder that we need to shorten the shifts and keep our
legs fresh in tomorrow's final."
SEMI-FINAL #2 RECAP
VARSITY BLUES SHOOT DOWN GOLDEN GAELS
TORONTO - In front of a boisterous crowd of over 300 at Varsity Arena, the
nation's sixth-ranked University of Toronto Varsity Blues held on for a 2-1
victory over the Queen's Golden Gaels to earn a spot in tomorrow evening's
OUA Women's Hockey Championship Final.
The intense rivalry between these two teams was evident from the opening
face-off, and it was a wide-open, physical first 10 minutes before the
Varsity Blues opened the scoring.
After 90 seconds of sustained pressure, U of T took full advantage of their
first power play opportunity. Mary Modeste (Oshawa, Ont.) delivered a
perfect cross-ice pass to Amy Caldwell (Cobourg, Ont.) at the right
face-off circle, and the fifth-year winger buried a wrist shot beyond the
reach of Golden Gaels netminder Claire Hunt (Holyrood, NL).
After a great second effort by the OUA East's Rookie of the Year, Laura Foster
put the Varsity Blues ahead 2-0.
U of T captain Jill Savin (Oakville, Ont.) hit Foster with a crisp pass at
the blueline, and the Burlington, Ont. native pounced on her own rebound in
the slot for the only goal of the second period. The Golden Gaels also had
their share of chances in the middle frame, but Lisa Robertson (Oakville,
Ont.) came up with a trio of point blank saves and stopped 12 shots in the
period.
The free-wheeling play continued in the third, with the Varsity Blues
getting the bulk of the scoring opportunities, including a pair of
breakaways that Hunt played to perfection.
With 2:34 to go in the game, Queen's pulled their goalie in favour of an
extra attacker and the pressure in front of Robertson resulted in a Kim
Devereaux (Seaforth, Ont.) holding penalty. Playing six skaters to four,
Keri Baker (Tecumseh, Ont.) found the back of the net after a goalmouth
scramble, and with 49 seconds to play the Golden Gaels closed the gap to
2-1.
Queen's did get the puck deep into U of T territory as time wound down, but
could not beat Robertson, who stopped 29 shots to earn Sherwood Hockey
player of the game honours for the Varsity Blues. A spirited effort from
forward Miranda Costie (Cambridge, Ont.) earned her the Queen's player of
the game award.
"I thought we started a little tight," said Varsity Blues Head Coach Karen
Hughes. "But we did a great job of keeping them to the outside and in the
end pulled it all together. To be honest, that's as well as we've played
all year."
U of T will now face-off against Wilfrid Laurier in Saturday's OUA
Championship Final, which will hit the ice at 8 p.m. at Varsity Arena.
Queen's will battle Brock for bronze at 4 p.m.
The winner of Saturday evening's OUA final will earn the conference's lone
berth in the 2005 CIS Women's Hockey Championship that runs from March 10
to 13 at Montreal's McGill University.
(Source: Adrian Bradbury, U of T Sports Information)
TORONTO - A first period power play goal held up as the game-winner as the
nation's second-ranked Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks survived a scare from
the eighth-ranked Brock Badgers. Laurier added a pair of goals into the
empty net to earn a 3-0 victory and place in Saturday's OUA Women's Hockey
Championship Final.
The defending OUA champion Golden Hawks carried much of the play in the
opening twenty minutes and were rewarded with three and a half minutes
remaining in the period. After a questionable roughing penalty to Brock's
Kate Allgood (Toronto), Laurier capitalized. Amanda Joseph (Oakville, Ont.)
sent a soft pass across the goalmouth that Laurissa Kenworthy (Newmarket,
Ont.) calmly tucked in behind the Badgers' Angie Mallory (Kanata, Ont.).
OUA East Coach of the Year Todd Erskine must have motivated the troops with
his first intermission pep-talk because Brock came out flying in the
second. The Badgers out-shot Laurier 8-5 in the period and out-chanced them
4-1. Their best opportunity came with a minute remaining in the second.
Heather Goemans (Guelph, Ont.) slipped between a pair of Golden Hawk
defenders and fired a shot from the slot that just grazed the post.
In a back-and-forth third period, Brock almost had a 1-1 tie handed to
them. Laurier defender Lauren Meschino (Toronto) coughed up the puck at her
own blueline, sending Jackie McCauley (London, Ont.) in all alone on OUA
Player of the Year Cindy Eadie (Brantford, Ont.). McCauley elected to shoot
and flipped a wrist shot right into the outstretched glove of Eadie.
In the final minute of play, Andrea Bevan (Collingwood, Ont.) and Joseph
each scored into the empty net to secure the win.
Both goaltenders were named the Sherwood Hockey Players of the Game.
Mallory made 22 saves for Brock, while Eadie stopped 17 Bagders shots to
earn the shutout, her eleventh of the season.
"You have to give Brock a lot of credit for the way they came out in the
second," said Laurier Head Coach Rick Osborne. "That was a real wake-up
call for us and a reminder that we need to shorten the shifts and keep our
legs fresh in tomorrow's final."
SEMI-FINAL #2 RECAP
VARSITY BLUES SHOOT DOWN GOLDEN GAELS
TORONTO - In front of a boisterous crowd of over 300 at Varsity Arena, the
nation's sixth-ranked University of Toronto Varsity Blues held on for a 2-1
victory over the Queen's Golden Gaels to earn a spot in tomorrow evening's
OUA Women's Hockey Championship Final.
The intense rivalry between these two teams was evident from the opening
face-off, and it was a wide-open, physical first 10 minutes before the
Varsity Blues opened the scoring.
After 90 seconds of sustained pressure, U of T took full advantage of their
first power play opportunity. Mary Modeste (Oshawa, Ont.) delivered a
perfect cross-ice pass to Amy Caldwell (Cobourg, Ont.) at the right
face-off circle, and the fifth-year winger buried a wrist shot beyond the
reach of Golden Gaels netminder Claire Hunt (Holyrood, NL).
After a great second effort by the OUA East's Rookie of the Year, Laura Foster
put the Varsity Blues ahead 2-0.
U of T captain Jill Savin (Oakville, Ont.) hit Foster with a crisp pass at
the blueline, and the Burlington, Ont. native pounced on her own rebound in
the slot for the only goal of the second period. The Golden Gaels also had
their share of chances in the middle frame, but Lisa Robertson (Oakville,
Ont.) came up with a trio of point blank saves and stopped 12 shots in the
period.
The free-wheeling play continued in the third, with the Varsity Blues
getting the bulk of the scoring opportunities, including a pair of
breakaways that Hunt played to perfection.
With 2:34 to go in the game, Queen's pulled their goalie in favour of an
extra attacker and the pressure in front of Robertson resulted in a Kim
Devereaux (Seaforth, Ont.) holding penalty. Playing six skaters to four,
Keri Baker (Tecumseh, Ont.) found the back of the net after a goalmouth
scramble, and with 49 seconds to play the Golden Gaels closed the gap to
2-1.
Queen's did get the puck deep into U of T territory as time wound down, but
could not beat Robertson, who stopped 29 shots to earn Sherwood Hockey
player of the game honours for the Varsity Blues. A spirited effort from
forward Miranda Costie (Cambridge, Ont.) earned her the Queen's player of
the game award.
"I thought we started a little tight," said Varsity Blues Head Coach Karen
Hughes. "But we did a great job of keeping them to the outside and in the
end pulled it all together. To be honest, that's as well as we've played
all year."
U of T will now face-off against Wilfrid Laurier in Saturday's OUA
Championship Final, which will hit the ice at 8 p.m. at Varsity Arena.
Queen's will battle Brock for bronze at 4 p.m.
The winner of Saturday evening's OUA final will earn the conference's lone
berth in the 2005 CIS Women's Hockey Championship that runs from March 10
to 13 at Montreal's McGill University.
(Source: Adrian Bradbury, U of T Sports Information)
