March 4, 2006
BLUES SCORE TWO LATE GOALS TO ADAVNCE TO FINAL
ST. CATHARINES – They may have left it till late but with time running out on their season, the Toronto Varsity Blues pulled off one of the biggest turnarounds of the year. Justine Todd and Annie Del Guidice scored third-period goals just under five minutes apart to lift the Blues to a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over the Queen’s Golden Gaels in the first semi-final of the Ontario University Athletics Women’s Hockey Final Four Saturday at the Seymour-Hanna Sports & Entertainment Centre in St. Catharines, ON.
Del Guidice, a rookie from Hamilton, ON, scored the winner when she skated around the back of the net and slid a low shot in on the short side past Queen’s standout goaltender Claire Hunt with just over three minutes remaining in the third period.
“That’s our team – we like suspense,” Del Guidice said with a smile.
The goal capped a great rally by Toronto. Down 1-0 in the third, the Blues played some desperate hockey and were able to get the all-important equalizer while killing a penalty. Todd, a fourth-year forward, tied the game 1-1 with a huge short-handed effort at 11:55 of the period. The Smith Falls, ON native burst into the Queen’s zone with a Blues teammate but she patiently hung onto the puck and let go a high wrist shot that beat Hunt on the glove-hand side.
“It’s funny because we felt we could catch them short-handed,” said Toronto head coach Karen Hughes. “That was part of our pre-game talk. The way their power-play is set up, if we got away, then we would have an opportunity short-handed and she (Todd) made no mistake.”
Hunt went to the bench for an extra attacker in the final minute of third as the Gaels almost sent the game to overtime. Toronto goaltender Lisa Robertson, who finished the night with 22 saves, had to make two big stops on Amanda Stenson and Molly Groenewegen. Del Guidice then came up with a timely block in the dying seconds. Queen’s rookie Victoria Kaufmann grabbed the rebound, but her wrister from in close went high, allowing the resilient Blues to advance to the gold medal game tomorrow against the top-seeded Laurier Golden Hawks, who defeated the Guelph Gryphons 2-1 in the second semi.
The emotional Blues had dominated most of the game but still found themselves trailing entering the pivotal third.
“In between periods we just went back to our game plan and went over what are goals were for the game,” said captain Kim Devereaux, the Sher-wood Player of the Game for Toronto. “We knew we couldn’t get down. We just had to keep moving forward.
“We’ve got some really good leaders on the team,” said Del Guidice. “Before the third period, there were tears in Kim’s eyes. It was potentially her last game after five years and it touched all of us.”
Queen’s jumped out to a 1-0 lead early at 7:06 of the second period when Miranda Costie scored on a man advantage. With Kelly Rapson serving a hooking penalty, the Gaels went hard to the net where Costie grabbed the puck in the slot, and buried a pretty backhander behind Lisa Robertson. Cassandra Sparks and Chantelle Johnson picked up assists on the play.
Toronto had a tough time containing Costie, who was Queen’s best offensive weapon, her performance earning her the Sher-wood Player of the Game for the Gaels. The third-year Flamborough, ON used her speed to generate a few chances, including one rush up ice in the second where she was hauled down by a Toronto defender to the right of Robertson, though no penalty was called.
“We wanted to come out and pretend it was 0-0, and come out with confidence,” Costie said about the decisive third period. “I think we did. The short-handed goal hurt but we didn’t let up. It was just unfortunate we had a few bad bounces, a few bad breaks, a few no calls. But that’s the game.”
The Blues came out strong to start the game, out-shooting the Gaels 11-4 in the opening 20 minutes and 24-16 overall. Toronto had a pair of man advantages on back-to-back tripping minors less than two minutes apart but Hunt came up big when tested, her best save coming on a low, hard shot from Blues forward Katie Dowdall with a few players screening the Queen’s netminder.
The win was Toronto’s first of the OUA season against their rival. Queen’s had beaten the Blues twice, both one-goal games, while the teams skated to a 1-1 draw in their last meeting back on January 28.
GAME SUMMARY
First Period
No scoring.
Penalties_ Morra Queen’s (tripping) 2:49, Baker Queen’s (tripping) 4:30, Poirier Toronto (interference) 17:45
Second Period
1. Queen’s, Costie (Sparks, Johnson) 7:06 (pp)
Penalties_ Rapson Toronto (hooking) 6:08
Third Period
2. Toronto, Todd (Devereaux) 11:55 (sh)
3. Toronto, Del Guidice (Davies, Patry) 16:53
Penalties_ Clark Toronto (holding) 11:30
Shots on goal by
Toronto 11-7-6 _24
Queen’s 4-3-9 _16
Goalies (shots-saves)_Toronto: Robertson (16-15) (W, 1-0); Queen’s: Hunt (24-22) (L, 0-1)
Power plays (goals-chances)_ Toronto: 0-2; Queen’s: 1-3
Sher-wood Player of the Game
Toronto - Kim Devereaux
Queen's - Miranda Costie
- OUA -
Del Guidice, a rookie from Hamilton, ON, scored the winner when she skated around the back of the net and slid a low shot in on the short side past Queen’s standout goaltender Claire Hunt with just over three minutes remaining in the third period.
“That’s our team – we like suspense,” Del Guidice said with a smile.
The goal capped a great rally by Toronto. Down 1-0 in the third, the Blues played some desperate hockey and were able to get the all-important equalizer while killing a penalty. Todd, a fourth-year forward, tied the game 1-1 with a huge short-handed effort at 11:55 of the period. The Smith Falls, ON native burst into the Queen’s zone with a Blues teammate but she patiently hung onto the puck and let go a high wrist shot that beat Hunt on the glove-hand side.
“It’s funny because we felt we could catch them short-handed,” said Toronto head coach Karen Hughes. “That was part of our pre-game talk. The way their power-play is set up, if we got away, then we would have an opportunity short-handed and she (Todd) made no mistake.”
Hunt went to the bench for an extra attacker in the final minute of third as the Gaels almost sent the game to overtime. Toronto goaltender Lisa Robertson, who finished the night with 22 saves, had to make two big stops on Amanda Stenson and Molly Groenewegen. Del Guidice then came up with a timely block in the dying seconds. Queen’s rookie Victoria Kaufmann grabbed the rebound, but her wrister from in close went high, allowing the resilient Blues to advance to the gold medal game tomorrow against the top-seeded Laurier Golden Hawks, who defeated the Guelph Gryphons 2-1 in the second semi.
The emotional Blues had dominated most of the game but still found themselves trailing entering the pivotal third.
“In between periods we just went back to our game plan and went over what are goals were for the game,” said captain Kim Devereaux, the Sher-wood Player of the Game for Toronto. “We knew we couldn’t get down. We just had to keep moving forward.
“We’ve got some really good leaders on the team,” said Del Guidice. “Before the third period, there were tears in Kim’s eyes. It was potentially her last game after five years and it touched all of us.”
Queen’s jumped out to a 1-0 lead early at 7:06 of the second period when Miranda Costie scored on a man advantage. With Kelly Rapson serving a hooking penalty, the Gaels went hard to the net where Costie grabbed the puck in the slot, and buried a pretty backhander behind Lisa Robertson. Cassandra Sparks and Chantelle Johnson picked up assists on the play.
Toronto had a tough time containing Costie, who was Queen’s best offensive weapon, her performance earning her the Sher-wood Player of the Game for the Gaels. The third-year Flamborough, ON used her speed to generate a few chances, including one rush up ice in the second where she was hauled down by a Toronto defender to the right of Robertson, though no penalty was called.
“We wanted to come out and pretend it was 0-0, and come out with confidence,” Costie said about the decisive third period. “I think we did. The short-handed goal hurt but we didn’t let up. It was just unfortunate we had a few bad bounces, a few bad breaks, a few no calls. But that’s the game.”
The Blues came out strong to start the game, out-shooting the Gaels 11-4 in the opening 20 minutes and 24-16 overall. Toronto had a pair of man advantages on back-to-back tripping minors less than two minutes apart but Hunt came up big when tested, her best save coming on a low, hard shot from Blues forward Katie Dowdall with a few players screening the Queen’s netminder.
The win was Toronto’s first of the OUA season against their rival. Queen’s had beaten the Blues twice, both one-goal games, while the teams skated to a 1-1 draw in their last meeting back on January 28.
GAME SUMMARY
First Period
No scoring.
Penalties_ Morra Queen’s (tripping) 2:49, Baker Queen’s (tripping) 4:30, Poirier Toronto (interference) 17:45
Second Period
1. Queen’s, Costie (Sparks, Johnson) 7:06 (pp)
Penalties_ Rapson Toronto (hooking) 6:08
Third Period
2. Toronto, Todd (Devereaux) 11:55 (sh)
3. Toronto, Del Guidice (Davies, Patry) 16:53
Penalties_ Clark Toronto (holding) 11:30
Shots on goal by
Toronto 11-7-6 _24
Queen’s 4-3-9 _16
Goalies (shots-saves)_Toronto: Robertson (16-15) (W, 1-0); Queen’s: Hunt (24-22) (L, 0-1)
Power plays (goals-chances)_ Toronto: 0-2; Queen’s: 1-3
Sher-wood Player of the Game
Toronto - Kim Devereaux
Queen's - Miranda Costie
- OUA -
