February 16, 2009
OUA W-HOCKEY ROUNDUP: NO. 10 LIONS EDGE NO. 8 VARSITY BLUES
TORONTO, Ont. - The No. 10 York Lions women's hockey team came back from two goals behind on three occasions to beat its fierce rivals the No. 8 Toronto Varsity Blues 5-4 in a close finish on Sunday afternoon at Canlan Ice Sports arena. The win improves the Lions record to 14-11 on the season and keeps them in fourth place in the tight OUA standings.
The Lions got off to a sluggish start as the Blues (16-9-1) scored two goals in the first seven minutes of the contest, courtesy of a shot from Amanda Fawns (Scarborough, Ont.) just five minutes in and a power play goal less than two minutes later off the stick of Emily Milito (Ottawa, Ont.). Eventually, the Lions started finding their groove, and Mandy Cole (Peterborough, Ont.) scored a spectacular individual goal at the 11:18 mark to cut the Blues lead in half. With the Blues outshooting the Lions 16-7 in the first period, a lot of credit goes to York goaltender Megan Slumskie (Kitchener, Ont.) for pulling off quite a few splendid saves.
The second period saw the game drift back and forth, with both teams refusing to give an inch and hustling for every loose puck like it was the dying seconds of the game. However, the relentless pressure applied by the Blues resulted in another goal three minutes into the frame when Brenley Jorgensen (Kingston, Ont.) managed to weave her way through the Lions defence and side step Slumskie to increase the Blues lead to two again. The Lions came close to another marker four minutes from the end of the period when a Riley Edwards (Kenora, Ont.) shot hit the side post.
The third period was by far the most exciting phase of the game. The thrills began early when Kristie Wilson (Hamilton, Ont.) stole the puck from a poor pass by the Blues defence and slid a through pass to Cole, who shot straight at the Blues goalie but managed to slot in the rebound for her second goal of the game at the 2:20 mark.
The Lions' joy was short lived, however, as the Blues scored a contentious goal to regain their two-goal lead at the 5:54 mark courtesy of Allie White (Metcalfe, Ont.). The referee seemed to have blown the whistle for a save by Slumskie when White poked the puck in and despite furious protests by the Lions, the referees let the goal stand.
Instead of becoming frustrated by the turn of results, that goal only seemed to reinvigorate the Lions, who came storming back when Edwards made up for her bad luck earlier by scoring off a rebound on a shot by Michelle Guy (Kitchener, Ont.) on the power play. The power play was favourable to the Lions again less than two minutes later as they passed the puck brilliantly and hustled in defence to tie the game on a fantastic pass from the edge of the goal line by Autumn Mills (London, Ont.) to Danielle Beach (Port Perry, Ont.), who deposited the puck into the top left corner of the net.
The Lions pressed hard for the game winner, and buoyed by a boisterous home crowd, scored what turned out to be the winning goal with eight minutes left in the game when rookie Chloe Milano (Maple, Ont.) gathered the puck from Jennifer Petkovics (Mississauga, Ont.) at the centre line, pushed her way through three Blues defencewomen, and scored with a tip off a Blues defender.
After that brilliant play the Blues seemed to be out of ideas as they failed to pose any significant offence the rest of the way and the Lions managed to hold on to a well-deserved victory.
Cole finished the game with three points (two goals, one assist) and Slumskie made 30 saves in the winning effort.
The game was also dedicated to a good cause, with the spectators managing to raise $150 for the York Lions Roar for a Cure campaign in support of the Canadian Cancer Society.
The win meant the Lions can still be reasonably hopeful of gaining home ice advantage for the opening round of the post-season. York will next take on the undefeated Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Canlan Ice Sports arena and will conclude its regular season the following day against the Waterloo Warriors.
Source: Lions Athletics
NO. 6 GUELPH 6, WINDSOR 0
WINDSOR, Ont. - The No. 6 nationally-ranked Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team increased their win streak to three games with a 6-0 triumph over the Windsor Lancers. It also marked the third-straight shut out of an opponent for the Gryphons as they wind down the OUA regular season.
Team captain Patrica Harris (Colborne, Ont.) led the offence for the Gryphons, netting a pair of goals, including one on the power play. Guelph scored four times with the man-advantage, as Dayna Kanis (Georgetown, Ont.), Tayne Hewer (Barrie, Ont.) and Jessica Zerafa (Mississauga, Ont.) all scored on the power play. Stephanie Dykes also scored for the Gryphons (Bright's Grove, Ont.)
Cassandra McNichol (Unionville, Ont.) made 40 saves for the shutout, her third straight.
Guelph (18-6-0-2) will finish the season in second place in the OUA standings. The Gryphons visit the Brock Badgers on Feb. 21 to conclude the regular season.
The Lancers (10-13-0-2) are still in striking distance of the final playoff spot with two games remaining. They have a must-win game at home against the Queen's Gaels (12-12-0-1) this Saturday. Queen's currently holds the final playoff position with a three-point lead on Windsor.
Source: OUA Communications
BROCK 1, WESTERN 0
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - First-year defenceman Amber Wilson (Brantford, Ont.) has been a welcome addition in the defensive zone for the Brock Badgers women's hockey team this season. On Sunday afternoon, Wilson showed the Badgers faithful another side of her game as she ripped a slap-shot from the blue-line past Western Mustangs goaltender Jessica Ulrich (Keswick, Ont.) for her first career OUA goal. Wilson's goal was the only puck to find the net on the day, as the hometown Badgers (12-9-0-4) defeated Western (7-12-0-6) 1-0 to clinch a playoff berth.
After controlling the play for much of the first 40 minutes, the Badgers remained in a scoreless tie as they returned to the ice for the third period of action. The Badgers increased the pressure on the Mustangs as the period progressed, however, Ulrich continued to get the right bounces to keep the score tied. Just under four minutes into the final frame, after a scramble in the Western goal mouth, Maggie Young (Tiverton, Ont.) knocked the puck out to the blue line to a patiently waiting Wilson, who wasted no time in blasting a slap shot past the Mustangs netminder. Maggie Matheson (Kingston, Ont.) earned the second assist on the goal.
In addition to earning assists, the forward line of Young, Matheson and Lana Norris (Inglewood, Ont.) were outstanding on the forecheck and in the defensive zone to help solidify the shutout.
Badgers goaltender Beth Clause (Hamilton, Ont.) continued her storybook OUA career as she turned away 36 saves for her fourth shutout of the campaign and twelfth win.
Clause recently became the winningest goaltender in Brock women's hockey history, when the Badgers defeated the Waterloo Warriors in a shootout on Feb. 7. Clause has been outstanding throughout this season and has played a major role in the success of the Badgers to this point.
With the victory, the Badgers clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2005-06.
Source: Badgers Athletics
WATERLOO 5, UOIT 1
OSHAWA, Ont. - The UOIT Ridgebacks women's hockey team could not overcome a slow start in their final regular season home game of the season as they were upended by the Waterloo Warriors 5-1 on Sunday night.
Waterloo scored three first period goals on ten shots on UOIT starting goaltender Carleigh Taggart (Bowmanville, Ont.), forcing head coach Gary Pitcher to pull his goalie after falling behind early in the game.
UOIT looked like a completely different team in the second frame as they out shot Waterloo 12-6 while out-skating the Warriors for the entire 20 minutes. The Ridgebacks were rewarded for their hard work as Vanessa Johnstone (Niagara Falls, Ont.) netted her sixth goal of the year with a power play marker. Emily Bremer (Barrie, Ont.) and Rikki Palmateer (Cobourg, Ont.) picked up assists on the play. Palmateer and Johnstone are one-two in team scoring this year with 14 and 12 points respectively.
Jessica Tracey (Woodslee, Ont.), Liana Tennant (Kitchener, Ont.), Caitlin Brydges (Ariss, Ont.), Emma McMillian (Hastings, Ont.) and Sarah Endicott (Toronto, Ont.) all scored for the Warriors.
After the second period surge, UOIT was unable to carry the momentum into the final period as Waterloo would score two more goals to secure a 5-1 victory.
Coming into the game in relief, freshman goalkeeper Emma Thompson (Hastings, Ont.) made 22 saves while allowing the two third period goals. UOIT would finish the night 1-for-6 on the power play while getting out shot 34-24.
The Ridgebacks will wrap up their regular season next weekend with a south-western Ontario road swing with games against Western on Saturday and Windsor on Sunday.
Source: Ridgebacks Athletics
OUA SCOREBOARD
February 13, 2009
Laurier 6, Queen's 0
Windsor 2, Brock 1, SO
February 14, 2009
Guelph 3, Western 0
Waterloo 2, Queen's 1
Toronto 5, UOIT 1
February 15, 2009
York 5, Toronto 4
Brock 1, Western 0
Guelph 6, Windsor 0
Waterloo 5, UOIT 1
The Lions got off to a sluggish start as the Blues (16-9-1) scored two goals in the first seven minutes of the contest, courtesy of a shot from Amanda Fawns (Scarborough, Ont.) just five minutes in and a power play goal less than two minutes later off the stick of Emily Milito (Ottawa, Ont.). Eventually, the Lions started finding their groove, and Mandy Cole (Peterborough, Ont.) scored a spectacular individual goal at the 11:18 mark to cut the Blues lead in half. With the Blues outshooting the Lions 16-7 in the first period, a lot of credit goes to York goaltender Megan Slumskie (Kitchener, Ont.) for pulling off quite a few splendid saves.
The second period saw the game drift back and forth, with both teams refusing to give an inch and hustling for every loose puck like it was the dying seconds of the game. However, the relentless pressure applied by the Blues resulted in another goal three minutes into the frame when Brenley Jorgensen (Kingston, Ont.) managed to weave her way through the Lions defence and side step Slumskie to increase the Blues lead to two again. The Lions came close to another marker four minutes from the end of the period when a Riley Edwards (Kenora, Ont.) shot hit the side post.
The third period was by far the most exciting phase of the game. The thrills began early when Kristie Wilson (Hamilton, Ont.) stole the puck from a poor pass by the Blues defence and slid a through pass to Cole, who shot straight at the Blues goalie but managed to slot in the rebound for her second goal of the game at the 2:20 mark.
The Lions' joy was short lived, however, as the Blues scored a contentious goal to regain their two-goal lead at the 5:54 mark courtesy of Allie White (Metcalfe, Ont.). The referee seemed to have blown the whistle for a save by Slumskie when White poked the puck in and despite furious protests by the Lions, the referees let the goal stand.
Instead of becoming frustrated by the turn of results, that goal only seemed to reinvigorate the Lions, who came storming back when Edwards made up for her bad luck earlier by scoring off a rebound on a shot by Michelle Guy (Kitchener, Ont.) on the power play. The power play was favourable to the Lions again less than two minutes later as they passed the puck brilliantly and hustled in defence to tie the game on a fantastic pass from the edge of the goal line by Autumn Mills (London, Ont.) to Danielle Beach (Port Perry, Ont.), who deposited the puck into the top left corner of the net.
The Lions pressed hard for the game winner, and buoyed by a boisterous home crowd, scored what turned out to be the winning goal with eight minutes left in the game when rookie Chloe Milano (Maple, Ont.) gathered the puck from Jennifer Petkovics (Mississauga, Ont.) at the centre line, pushed her way through three Blues defencewomen, and scored with a tip off a Blues defender.
After that brilliant play the Blues seemed to be out of ideas as they failed to pose any significant offence the rest of the way and the Lions managed to hold on to a well-deserved victory.
Cole finished the game with three points (two goals, one assist) and Slumskie made 30 saves in the winning effort.
The game was also dedicated to a good cause, with the spectators managing to raise $150 for the York Lions Roar for a Cure campaign in support of the Canadian Cancer Society.
The win meant the Lions can still be reasonably hopeful of gaining home ice advantage for the opening round of the post-season. York will next take on the undefeated Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Canlan Ice Sports arena and will conclude its regular season the following day against the Waterloo Warriors.
Source: Lions Athletics
NO. 6 GUELPH 6, WINDSOR 0
WINDSOR, Ont. - The No. 6 nationally-ranked Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team increased their win streak to three games with a 6-0 triumph over the Windsor Lancers. It also marked the third-straight shut out of an opponent for the Gryphons as they wind down the OUA regular season.
Team captain Patrica Harris (Colborne, Ont.) led the offence for the Gryphons, netting a pair of goals, including one on the power play. Guelph scored four times with the man-advantage, as Dayna Kanis (Georgetown, Ont.), Tayne Hewer (Barrie, Ont.) and Jessica Zerafa (Mississauga, Ont.) all scored on the power play. Stephanie Dykes also scored for the Gryphons (Bright's Grove, Ont.)
Cassandra McNichol (Unionville, Ont.) made 40 saves for the shutout, her third straight.
Guelph (18-6-0-2) will finish the season in second place in the OUA standings. The Gryphons visit the Brock Badgers on Feb. 21 to conclude the regular season.
The Lancers (10-13-0-2) are still in striking distance of the final playoff spot with two games remaining. They have a must-win game at home against the Queen's Gaels (12-12-0-1) this Saturday. Queen's currently holds the final playoff position with a three-point lead on Windsor.
Source: OUA Communications
BROCK 1, WESTERN 0
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - First-year defenceman Amber Wilson (Brantford, Ont.) has been a welcome addition in the defensive zone for the Brock Badgers women's hockey team this season. On Sunday afternoon, Wilson showed the Badgers faithful another side of her game as she ripped a slap-shot from the blue-line past Western Mustangs goaltender Jessica Ulrich (Keswick, Ont.) for her first career OUA goal. Wilson's goal was the only puck to find the net on the day, as the hometown Badgers (12-9-0-4) defeated Western (7-12-0-6) 1-0 to clinch a playoff berth.
After controlling the play for much of the first 40 minutes, the Badgers remained in a scoreless tie as they returned to the ice for the third period of action. The Badgers increased the pressure on the Mustangs as the period progressed, however, Ulrich continued to get the right bounces to keep the score tied. Just under four minutes into the final frame, after a scramble in the Western goal mouth, Maggie Young (Tiverton, Ont.) knocked the puck out to the blue line to a patiently waiting Wilson, who wasted no time in blasting a slap shot past the Mustangs netminder. Maggie Matheson (Kingston, Ont.) earned the second assist on the goal.
In addition to earning assists, the forward line of Young, Matheson and Lana Norris (Inglewood, Ont.) were outstanding on the forecheck and in the defensive zone to help solidify the shutout.
Badgers goaltender Beth Clause (Hamilton, Ont.) continued her storybook OUA career as she turned away 36 saves for her fourth shutout of the campaign and twelfth win.
Clause recently became the winningest goaltender in Brock women's hockey history, when the Badgers defeated the Waterloo Warriors in a shootout on Feb. 7. Clause has been outstanding throughout this season and has played a major role in the success of the Badgers to this point.
With the victory, the Badgers clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2005-06.
Source: Badgers Athletics
WATERLOO 5, UOIT 1
OSHAWA, Ont. - The UOIT Ridgebacks women's hockey team could not overcome a slow start in their final regular season home game of the season as they were upended by the Waterloo Warriors 5-1 on Sunday night.
Waterloo scored three first period goals on ten shots on UOIT starting goaltender Carleigh Taggart (Bowmanville, Ont.), forcing head coach Gary Pitcher to pull his goalie after falling behind early in the game.
UOIT looked like a completely different team in the second frame as they out shot Waterloo 12-6 while out-skating the Warriors for the entire 20 minutes. The Ridgebacks were rewarded for their hard work as Vanessa Johnstone (Niagara Falls, Ont.) netted her sixth goal of the year with a power play marker. Emily Bremer (Barrie, Ont.) and Rikki Palmateer (Cobourg, Ont.) picked up assists on the play. Palmateer and Johnstone are one-two in team scoring this year with 14 and 12 points respectively.
Jessica Tracey (Woodslee, Ont.), Liana Tennant (Kitchener, Ont.), Caitlin Brydges (Ariss, Ont.), Emma McMillian (Hastings, Ont.) and Sarah Endicott (Toronto, Ont.) all scored for the Warriors.
After the second period surge, UOIT was unable to carry the momentum into the final period as Waterloo would score two more goals to secure a 5-1 victory.
Coming into the game in relief, freshman goalkeeper Emma Thompson (Hastings, Ont.) made 22 saves while allowing the two third period goals. UOIT would finish the night 1-for-6 on the power play while getting out shot 34-24.
The Ridgebacks will wrap up their regular season next weekend with a south-western Ontario road swing with games against Western on Saturday and Windsor on Sunday.
Source: Ridgebacks Athletics
OUA SCOREBOARD
February 13, 2009
Laurier 6, Queen's 0
Windsor 2, Brock 1, SO
February 14, 2009
Guelph 3, Western 0
Waterloo 2, Queen's 1
Toronto 5, UOIT 1
February 15, 2009
York 5, Toronto 4
Brock 1, Western 0
Guelph 6, Windsor 0
Waterloo 5, UOIT 1
