February 23, 2009
OUA W-HOCKEY ROUNDUP: GAELS SQUEAK INTO POST-SEASON
LONDON, Ont. - Melissa John (Unionville, Ont.) stopped 41 shots leading the Queen's Gaels women's hockey team to the post-season with a 3-2 victory over the Western Mustangs.
John finishes the 2008-09 regular season with eight victories, playing in 20 of Queen's 27 games and posting a 2.71 goals against average. She faced 564 shots placing her in eight place among OUA netminders this season.
Queen's started off slow being out-shot 22-3 in the first period and taking four penalties. John stood strong stopping all 22 giving the Gaels a chance going into the second period.
Kristin Smith (Toronto, Ont.) opened the scoring two minutes into the second frame on the power play giving Queen's 1-0 lead. Becky Conroy (Pembroke, Ont.) made it 2-0 midway through the period.
Elizabeth Kench (Gananoque, Ont.), Michelle Hunt (Mississauga, Ont.) and Kristin Smith (Toronto, Ont.) recorded assists in the victory.
Defencemen Shelby Aitcheson (London, Ont.) scored the game-winning goal scoring at the 1:57 mark of the third period.
Brittany Buck (Etobicoke, Ont.) and Chantal Morais (Guelph, Ont.) produced the offence for Western with Buck scoring both goals, and Morais picking up the two assists.
The Gaels finish the regular season with a 13-13-0-1 record and will travel to the University of Toronto next weekend to play the third seeded and No. 8 nationally-ranked Varsity Blues in the first round of the OUA playoffs.
Queen's holds the regular season edge over Toronto taking the series 2-1, outscoring the Varsity Blues 11-7.
Source: Gaels Athletics
Photo Credit: Michael Parkinson
WINDSOR 1, UOIT 0, SO
WINDSOR, Ont. - - The Windsor Lancers women's hockey team and their three graduating seniors finished the season on a winning note as they defeated the UOIT Ridgebacks 1-0 in a shootout on Sunday afternoon at South Windsor Arena.
The Lancers had hoped a victory in their final regular season game would propel them into the playoffs, but were kept out as Queen's defeated Western in their final game to grab the final playoff spot.
On Sunday, both teams played a strong game and had numerous chances to score in an action packed affair at South Windsor Arena. However, both Windsor and UOIT got strong goaltending and kept each other off the score sheet at 60 minutes of play.
After a scoreless overtime period, the game went to a shootout, with neither team able to register a goal after the three-shooter session.
Finally, on Windsor's fifth attempt, defenseman Laurel Ansell (Uxbridge, Ont.) was able to score on a beautiful move to give the Lancers the 1-0 victory.
Jamie Tessier (Copper Cliff, Ont.) made 22 saves to record the victory and earn her second straight shutout to end the season. Emma Thompson (Hastings, Ont.) was between the pipes for UOIT.
Lancer seniors Darris Ford (Echo Bay, Ont.), Jodilyn Brown (Corunna, Ont.) and Kelly Meincke (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) all played their final game wearing the blue and gold as they wrapped up their university career. The three standouts were pillars for the program over the past four years and will be greatly missed next year.
For Windsor, they finish the regular season with a 12-13-1 record.
Source: Lancers Athletics
BROCK 3, NO.8 TORONTO 1
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - After one of their strongest regular seasons in school history, the Brock Badgers women's hockey team could not have asked for a better finish on Sunday as they upset the No. 8 Toronto Varsity Blues 3-1 at Varsity Arena in Toronto.
Just over 24 hours after the York Lions defeated the Laurier Golden Hawks, the Badgers' looked to match the Lions with an upset of their own as they travelled to take on the Varsity Blues.
The Badgers, who had secured fifth place in the OUA on Saturday after the Queen's Gaels were defeated by the Windsor Lancers, were playing for confidence heading into this year's playoffs on Sunday.
The play was dominated by the Badgers from the outset as Kelly Walker (Brampton, Ont.) scored her team-leading 11th goal of the season just over eight minutes into the contest. Linemates Michelle Lee (Innisfil, Ont.) and Karolyn McIlmoyle (Newmarket, Ont.) earned assists.
Minutes later, U of T's Lindsay Hill (Ajax, Ont.) scored her 10th of the season to knot the score at one goal a piece.
The score remained that way for the remainder of the first period.
Walker added her second of the game just over four minutes into the second period. Lee was credited with her second assist of the contest. Minutes later, the Badgers took advantage of a 5-on-3, when Lee gained her own rebound out in front of Blues goaltender Kendyl Valenta (Brampton, Ont.) to score her fifth goal of the season, an assist was given to Walker to cap off a three-point night and finalize her career-record 24-point season.
Rookie defenseman Melissa Geary (Wasaga Beach, Ont.) had a flawless game, as she was exceptional in limiting the chances for Varsity Blues forwards.
Goaltender Beth Clause (Hamilton, Ont.) secured her career record 13th victory with a 27-save performance.
The Badgers will return to action on Tues., Mar. 3 as they travel to Toronto to play the No. 9 York Lions.
The Badgers are returning to the playoffs for the first time since the 2005-2006 campaign.
Source: Badgers Athletics
WATERLOO 3, NO. 9 YORK 2
TORONTO, Ont. - The York Lions women's hockey team lost its last game of the regular season Sunday afternoon as they went down 3-2 at home to the Waterloo Warriors. Despite the defeat, the Lions finished fourth in the OUA standings with a 15-12 record and will host the Brock Badgers in an OUA quarter-final contest next week.
One day after a huge victory over the previously undefeated Laurier Golden Hawks, who were one win away from recording a perfect 27-0 season, the Lions came out flat against the lowly Warriors and could not match Waterloo's intensity.
The Lions struck first in the game as Jennifer Petkovics (Mississauga, Ont.) scored a power play goal at the 15:27 mark of the opening period. The Warriors answered the Lions goal quickly when Kelly MacLean (St. George) scored a goal of her own less than two minutes later.
Waterloo then struck again in the second period as Sarah Bryson (Kitchener, Ont.) netted a power play goal midway into the frame. After being outshot 9-5 in the first period, the Warriors kicked it into another gear, outshooting the Lions 19-7 in the second. The second period also saw a rush of penalties as both teams combined for 10 infractions.
The Lions entered the third down a goal but tied matters up at the 3:47 mark of the period thanks to a nifty Samantha Solheim (Kelowna, B.C.) marker. It was Warriors defenceman Karen Vanderhoek (Paris, Ont.) who had the last say in this one, though, as she scored the game winner 10 minutes after the Lions had gotten the equalizer.
It was an exciting contest, but not the result the Lions were looking for to close out the regular season. Having already clinched a playoff spot, it wasn't a must-win for the Lions but they no doubt would have to liked to gain some momentum heading into the playoffs. The Lions will play their first game of the postseason on Tues., Mar. 3 at 7 p.m.
Source: Lions Athletics
OUA SCOREBOARD
February 22, 2009
Queen's 3, Western 2
Waterloo 3, York 2
Windsor 1, UOIT 0, SO
Brock 3, Toronto 1
John finishes the 2008-09 regular season with eight victories, playing in 20 of Queen's 27 games and posting a 2.71 goals against average. She faced 564 shots placing her in eight place among OUA netminders this season.
Queen's started off slow being out-shot 22-3 in the first period and taking four penalties. John stood strong stopping all 22 giving the Gaels a chance going into the second period.
Kristin Smith (Toronto, Ont.) opened the scoring two minutes into the second frame on the power play giving Queen's 1-0 lead. Becky Conroy (Pembroke, Ont.) made it 2-0 midway through the period.
Elizabeth Kench (Gananoque, Ont.), Michelle Hunt (Mississauga, Ont.) and Kristin Smith (Toronto, Ont.) recorded assists in the victory.
Defencemen Shelby Aitcheson (London, Ont.) scored the game-winning goal scoring at the 1:57 mark of the third period.
Brittany Buck (Etobicoke, Ont.) and Chantal Morais (Guelph, Ont.) produced the offence for Western with Buck scoring both goals, and Morais picking up the two assists.
The Gaels finish the regular season with a 13-13-0-1 record and will travel to the University of Toronto next weekend to play the third seeded and No. 8 nationally-ranked Varsity Blues in the first round of the OUA playoffs.
Queen's holds the regular season edge over Toronto taking the series 2-1, outscoring the Varsity Blues 11-7.
Source: Gaels Athletics
Photo Credit: Michael Parkinson
WINDSOR 1, UOIT 0, SO
WINDSOR, Ont. - - The Windsor Lancers women's hockey team and their three graduating seniors finished the season on a winning note as they defeated the UOIT Ridgebacks 1-0 in a shootout on Sunday afternoon at South Windsor Arena.
The Lancers had hoped a victory in their final regular season game would propel them into the playoffs, but were kept out as Queen's defeated Western in their final game to grab the final playoff spot.
On Sunday, both teams played a strong game and had numerous chances to score in an action packed affair at South Windsor Arena. However, both Windsor and UOIT got strong goaltending and kept each other off the score sheet at 60 minutes of play.
After a scoreless overtime period, the game went to a shootout, with neither team able to register a goal after the three-shooter session.
Finally, on Windsor's fifth attempt, defenseman Laurel Ansell (Uxbridge, Ont.) was able to score on a beautiful move to give the Lancers the 1-0 victory.
Jamie Tessier (Copper Cliff, Ont.) made 22 saves to record the victory and earn her second straight shutout to end the season. Emma Thompson (Hastings, Ont.) was between the pipes for UOIT.
Lancer seniors Darris Ford (Echo Bay, Ont.), Jodilyn Brown (Corunna, Ont.) and Kelly Meincke (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) all played their final game wearing the blue and gold as they wrapped up their university career. The three standouts were pillars for the program over the past four years and will be greatly missed next year.
For Windsor, they finish the regular season with a 12-13-1 record.
Source: Lancers Athletics
BROCK 3, NO.8 TORONTO 1
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - After one of their strongest regular seasons in school history, the Brock Badgers women's hockey team could not have asked for a better finish on Sunday as they upset the No. 8 Toronto Varsity Blues 3-1 at Varsity Arena in Toronto.
Just over 24 hours after the York Lions defeated the Laurier Golden Hawks, the Badgers' looked to match the Lions with an upset of their own as they travelled to take on the Varsity Blues.
The Badgers, who had secured fifth place in the OUA on Saturday after the Queen's Gaels were defeated by the Windsor Lancers, were playing for confidence heading into this year's playoffs on Sunday.
The play was dominated by the Badgers from the outset as Kelly Walker (Brampton, Ont.) scored her team-leading 11th goal of the season just over eight minutes into the contest. Linemates Michelle Lee (Innisfil, Ont.) and Karolyn McIlmoyle (Newmarket, Ont.) earned assists.
Minutes later, U of T's Lindsay Hill (Ajax, Ont.) scored her 10th of the season to knot the score at one goal a piece.
The score remained that way for the remainder of the first period.
Walker added her second of the game just over four minutes into the second period. Lee was credited with her second assist of the contest. Minutes later, the Badgers took advantage of a 5-on-3, when Lee gained her own rebound out in front of Blues goaltender Kendyl Valenta (Brampton, Ont.) to score her fifth goal of the season, an assist was given to Walker to cap off a three-point night and finalize her career-record 24-point season.
Rookie defenseman Melissa Geary (Wasaga Beach, Ont.) had a flawless game, as she was exceptional in limiting the chances for Varsity Blues forwards.
Goaltender Beth Clause (Hamilton, Ont.) secured her career record 13th victory with a 27-save performance.
The Badgers will return to action on Tues., Mar. 3 as they travel to Toronto to play the No. 9 York Lions.
The Badgers are returning to the playoffs for the first time since the 2005-2006 campaign.
Source: Badgers Athletics
WATERLOO 3, NO. 9 YORK 2
TORONTO, Ont. - The York Lions women's hockey team lost its last game of the regular season Sunday afternoon as they went down 3-2 at home to the Waterloo Warriors. Despite the defeat, the Lions finished fourth in the OUA standings with a 15-12 record and will host the Brock Badgers in an OUA quarter-final contest next week.
One day after a huge victory over the previously undefeated Laurier Golden Hawks, who were one win away from recording a perfect 27-0 season, the Lions came out flat against the lowly Warriors and could not match Waterloo's intensity.
The Lions struck first in the game as Jennifer Petkovics (Mississauga, Ont.) scored a power play goal at the 15:27 mark of the opening period. The Warriors answered the Lions goal quickly when Kelly MacLean (St. George) scored a goal of her own less than two minutes later.
Waterloo then struck again in the second period as Sarah Bryson (Kitchener, Ont.) netted a power play goal midway into the frame. After being outshot 9-5 in the first period, the Warriors kicked it into another gear, outshooting the Lions 19-7 in the second. The second period also saw a rush of penalties as both teams combined for 10 infractions.
The Lions entered the third down a goal but tied matters up at the 3:47 mark of the period thanks to a nifty Samantha Solheim (Kelowna, B.C.) marker. It was Warriors defenceman Karen Vanderhoek (Paris, Ont.) who had the last say in this one, though, as she scored the game winner 10 minutes after the Lions had gotten the equalizer.
It was an exciting contest, but not the result the Lions were looking for to close out the regular season. Having already clinched a playoff spot, it wasn't a must-win for the Lions but they no doubt would have to liked to gain some momentum heading into the playoffs. The Lions will play their first game of the postseason on Tues., Mar. 3 at 7 p.m.
Source: Lions Athletics
OUA SCOREBOARD
February 22, 2009
Queen's 3, Western 2
Waterloo 3, York 2
Windsor 1, UOIT 0, SO
Brock 3, Toronto 1
