W-HOCKEY PLAYOFF ROUNDUP: Gaels and Mustangs to meet in OUA final

Friday, February 22

Guelph, 1 @ Queen's, 3 (Queen's wins series 2-0)

KINGSTON, Ont.  - The No. 7 Queen's Gaels are headed back to the OUA Championship after defeating the No. 6 Guelph Gryphons 3-1 on Friday night in Kingston to sweep their best-of-three series.

Shawna Griffin (Calgary) and Morgan McHaffie (Guelph, Ont.) each had a goal and an assist while Mel Dodd-Moher (Stittsville, Ont.) was the star in net stopping 21 shots for the win.

The first half of the opening period was all Gryphons as Guelph challenged Gaels starting goaltender Dodd-Moher who was able to stop a partial break early on. The Gryphons continued the pressure keeping the puck in the Gaels end as the game reached the mid-way point of the period.

On a Guelph power play it was the Gaels' Griffin forcing a turnover in the Guelph end, she managed to chip the puck out front to Kristin Smith (Toronto) who was all alone in front but Gryphon netminder Stephanie Nehring (Oshawa, Ont.) was up to task making the save.

The Gaels went to work on their own power play as right off the face-off the puck went to the Gaels blueliner Alisha Sealey (Elora, Ont.) who fired a shot off the blocker of Nehring. Queen's forced the puck to the crease on two occasions afterwards but Nehring held strong and the game stayed scoreless.

Guelph found themselves in penalty trouble again and the Gaels went up on a five on three advantage. Sealey stepped in from the point on the half boards and made a slick pass through the blue ice to a wide open Chantal Morais (Guelph, Ont.) for an easy goal to put Queen's up 1-0.

Queen's outshot the Gryphons 20 to five in the first period, getting the puck through to the net on their power play chances.

Special teams continued to be the story of the game in the second period as the Gryphons went on the offensive with a power play early, Jessica Pinkerton (Oshawa, Ont.) fired a shot from the slot that deflected off the post and wide. After a face-off win in the Gaels zone, the puck made its way to Emily Corbett (Toronto) whose point shot was stopped by Dodd-Moher but Christine Grant (Mississauga, Ont.) put away the rebound to tie the game at 1-1.

Taryn Pilon (Peterborough, Ont.) had a few chances for Queen's but couldn't find the net and the teams stayed locked at 1-1 after 40 minutes. The second period saw the Gryphons out in front with 11 shots to the Gaels seven.

Morgan McHaffie broke the game open for Queen's early in the third as she made a deke through the legs of a Guelph defender then beat Nehring with a low wrist shot below the blocker. Brittany McHaffie added the assist for the Gaels.

Guelph started to apply pressure as the end of their season was staring them down. Gina Murray (Lucknow, Ont.) fired a shot through traffic from the half boards but it was handled easily by Dodd-Moher.

Nehring was doing her best to keep Guelph in the game making a miraculous save with just over five minutes remaining as the puck jumped over her shoulder and she was able to spin around and swipe the puck out of the air and into the corner.

Queen's defenders stepped up their game late as in the dying moments the blueliners were blocking shots. The offence responded and the Gaels stayed strong on their puck possession getting the play deep into the Gryphon zone.

With 28 seconds left Griffin sealed the win for Queen's with a power play goal, sending the Gaels to the OUA Championship.

Dodd-Moher made  21 saves for the win while Nehring stopped 37 in a losing effort.

The Gaels will now advance to the OUA Championship series next week. Queen's will play the winner of No. 4 Laurier and No. 10 Western. Currently the Mustangs hold a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three series.

Source: Queen's Sports Info

Saturday, February 23

Laurier 2 @ Western 0 (Series tied at 1-1)

LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs lost their series edge over the Laurier Golden Hawks, as the Golden Hawks defeated the Mustangs 2-0 in game two of the best-of-three series. With the win, the series now sits at 1-1.
 
The Golden Hawks were good enough to get two shots past Western on a total of 46, giving them the win and extending the series to a third and deciding game.
           
After the first game, which the Mustangs won 2-0, Laurier knew Western was not the same team as last year, so a new sense of urgency came out early from the Golden Hawks. With the shots piling up in Laurier’s favour, Western would rely on their goalie, Kelly Campbell to prevent an early Laurier lead. Both teams would be given lengthy power play opportunities due to head contact penalties, but both teams failed to seize any chances in the first. However, Laurier held the edge in shots on net, outshooting Western 17-5.

Western knew they would have to step up their game against Laurier in order to find success in the offensive end, while Laurier knew they had to play with everything they had in order to extend their postseason.
 
Early in the second, Western was called for a penalty, and the Golden Hawks wouldn’t waste the opportunity. Golden Hawks’ Brittany Crago would score on the power play with an assist from Devon Skeats to give the Hawks the 1-0 lead. Down by one, Western struggled to muster any dangerous chances with most of their shots missing the net.
 
In the dying seconds of the frame Laurier’s Jessie Hurrell would score, assisted by Candice Styles and Emily Kekewich. The late Laurier goal would give them the 2-0 advantage over the Mustangs with only one period left to play.

With the score tilted in Laurier’s favour, the Mustangs had to overcome not only a strong offensive unit, but also had to spark their own offensive as well. With the shot total low in Western’s column, the Mustangs needed to spend more time in Laurier’s end if they had any chance at victory.
 
Their chance came when halfway through the third they went on the five-on-three advantage. Howerve, the Mustangs failed to get the puck past Laurier goalie, Erica Thunder. Western would also receive penalties later in the frame, placing them in a difficult position to make a comeback.
 
As time ran out the Mustangs' last minute chances were not enough to beat the Laurier Golden Hawks.
           
The Mustangs and Golden Hawks will settle their series Sunday February 24 at 7:30 p.m. in Waterloo.

Source: Western Sports Info

Sunday, February 24

Western 1 @ Laurier 0 (Western takes series 2-1)

WATERLOO, Ont. (February 24, 2013) - For the first time in a decade, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women's hockey team will not play for the CIS Championship after they were eliminated by the No. 10 Western Mustangs on Sunday night 1-0 in Game 3 of their OUA Semifinal series.
 
A determined Mustangs' squad bounced the Hawks, ranked No. 4 in Canada, from the playoffs. Western scored the series-winning goal with just over five minutes to play in what was a hard-fought game by both teams.
 
"I'm proud of everyone on this team," said team captain Fiona Lester of Peterborough, Ont., who played her final game as a Golden Hawk. "Everyone played their hearts out tonight. It's too bad that tonight we just didn't have it."
 
Kendra Deller of London, Ont., was the hero for the Mustangs as she scored her first career playoff goal at the 14:17 mark of the third period. Goaltender Kelly Campbell of St. Thomas, Ont., also shone once again for Western as she recorded her second shutout of the series, a 29-save effort including a number of key saves in the third period.
 
For the Hawks, Erika Thunder of Buffalo Point, Man., stopped 29 shots as well in a game in which both goaltenders were the story of the contest.
 
"I feel really bad for Erika," commented head coach Rick Osborne after the game. "She just really held us in there in the first period when we were killing all those penalties. She had to make a lot of key saves to keep this a scoreless game."
 
In what was an inauspicious start for Laurier, the Hawks took five consecutive penalties to open the game. That allowed the Mustangs to establish early pressure on the Hawks defence but Thu nder and her teammates stood tall, turning away all five opportunities to keep the game scoreless after 20 minutes.
 
Laurier turned their game around in the second period thanks to two powerplay opportunities of their own. However, each time the Hawks found their way through the Mustangs defence, Campbell was equal to the task and despite a 17-7 edge in shots in the period, Laurier still found themselves scoreless heading to the third.
 
In the final frame, both teams battled hard for every inch of ice with the series on the line. The breakthrough for Western would come off what appeared to be a harmless shot wide from Stacey Scott of London, Ont. However, the puck took a funny deflection off the Zamboni doors and bounced in front where it eventually fell for Deller who tapped it into the open net for the games only goal.
 
The Hawks would press late but never got a quality chance as the Mustangs pulled off the series upset.
 
The loss ends the careers of a number of prominent members of the purple and gold including Lester, Caitlin Muirhead of Waterloo, Ont., Brittany Crago of Stouffville, Ont., Maureen Mommersteeg of St. Thomas, Ont., and Paula Lagamba of Toronto. While Osborne knows all five will be very difficult to replace, he says the Hawks will be back ready to compete next season.
 
"The people that are walking out the door have such unbelievable character and work ethic is really going to be tough to replace," stated Osborne. "We really are searching hard for well-conditioned, dedicated, focused, fast and tough players to come in and replace them. You're going to see a different type of style from us next year. It's going to be four lines deep and a pretty pesky, tough-checking team."

Source: Laurier Sports Info