W-HOCKEY ROUNDUP: Guelph, Western jump out to 2-0 after opening weekend
October 4 – UOIT @ Guelph
An energetic, home crowd gathered Thursday at the Gryphon Centre to cheer on the Gryphon women’s hockey team as they opened their 2012-2013 season. The Gryphons battled hard against the Ridgebacks and were rewarded with a 4-2 over their opponents.
With the win, the Gryphons sit atop the OUA standings with a 1-0 record, while the Ridgebacks drop to 0-1.
The Gryphons wasted no time and took an early lead in the first period. Captain Tam Bell (Guelph, ON) notched her first goal of the 2012-2013 season at 5:51 after taking advantage of a crisp pass from line mate, Jenna Lanzarotta (Mississauga, ON) with help from Kailtyn Mora (Guelph, ON).
Less than five minutes later, Emily Corbett combined with Kimberly Wong (Mississauga, ON) and rookie center, Amanda Parkins (Kitchener, ON) to put the Gryphons up 2-0, with a power play goal at 10:13.
Each team had power play opportunities before the end of the first period, but neither squad was able to capitalize.
During the second period, the Ridgebacks were looking to come back from their two-goal deficit. At 9:04, Jill Morillo (Whitby, ON) put UOIT on the scoreboard with a goal, assisted by Nicole LoPresti and Melissa Berney (Bowmanville, ON).
The Ridgebacks began to rally, testing the Gryphons stamina and mental toughness in the second period, and although UOIT created a few scoring chances, the Gryphons were able to hang on to their lead.
At 12:34 in the third period, the Gryphons gave up a short-handed goal when LoPresti netted an unassisted goal, tying the game at 2-2. The Gryphons would quickly respond, securing the lead once more with a goal from stand-out rookie, Parkins, with help from Michelle Sabourin at 13:13. Minutes later, Christine Grant scored an insurance goal for Guelph, assisted by Parkins and Jessica Pinkerton, to extending their lead to 4-2 and secure the win; time of the goal was 15:14. Brooke Siddall went the distance for the Gryphons stopping 14 of 16 shots.
“We have a few things we still need to work on because we didn’t play a full 60 minutes,” said Head Coach Rachel Flanagan. “We gave enough up to let them [UOIT] get back in the game, so it’s important for us to recognize that when we do get up by a couple goals, that’s when we have to go harder. We seemed to take our foot off the gas tonight.”
Source: Guelph Sports Info
October 5 – Toronto @ Ryerson
It took 65 minutes and six shootout rounds, but the Ryerson women's hockey team outlasted the University of Toronto Varsity Blues for a 2-1 win in their home opener Friday night.
Emily Rose Galliani Pecchia scored the lone shootout goal and rookie goaltender Brianna Tremblay stopped all six Blues shooters to secure the win.
"Any time it goes to a shootout it's pretty dramatic," head coach Lisa Haley said. "I just say my prayers to the hockey gods and hope that our goaltender can keep us in there until we can find a way ... and that's what happened. We're happy that we get to celebrate instead of drowning our sorrows."
The Rams goalie only saw 13 shots in the first two periods, but maintained her focus as U of T peppered her with quality chances in the third, overtime and the shootout.
"She's about 5'1, but she played like she was 6'7," captain Nella Brodett said of her goalie.
At the other end, Pecchia took her coaches advice to shoot on Blues goalie Krista Funke after Funke stopped the five previous dekes.
"I saw that everyone had been deking," Pecchia said. "She's a big goalie, but I have a pretty good shot. Coach (Haley) told me to shoot and I just went down and did what I knew I could do."
U of T opened the scoring at 3:48 of the first period as a trailing Ragan Danford potted the puck on a delayed Rams penalty. Blues forward Kelly O'Hanlon was hauled down on a breakaway, which would have likely lead to a penalty shot, before Amanda Ricker passed the puck out front to Danford.
Ryerson rebounded from the early goal and dominated the second stanza, outshooting the Blues 16-4. Pecchia, the shootout hero, tipped home a Brodett point-shot to even the score at 2:58.
"I think that in the first period we were just getting the jitters out for the first game of the season," Brodett said. "We got that first goal under our belt in the second period and from then on we were relentless."
The Rams outshot the Blues 36-28 and avenged a 2-1 pre-season loss to U of T.
Source: Ryerson Sports Info
October 6 – Guelph @ York
The York University Lions women's hockey team was defeated in their season opener against the Guelph Gryphons by a score of 5-1 at Canlan Ice Sports on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 6).
The Gryphons scored five unanswered goals through the first two periods, including three in the first frame, for their second straight victory to start the year.
Fourth-year defender Rebecca Bond of Espanola, Ont., tallied the lone marker for the Lions with 28 seconds left in the second period, scoring the first goal of her career. But Guelph goaltender Brooke Siddall of Windsor, Ont., shut the door in the third period and did not allow the Lions to get any closer.
Siddall only had to make seven saves in the game as the Lions could not manage many scoring opportunities. In net for the Lions was Megan Lee of Orillia, Ont., who stopped 17 shots in the loss.
Special teams made all the difference in this game as Bond's goal was scored on the power play and four of the five Gryphons goals were also scored with the man advantage.
Guelph opened the scoring less than six minutes into the game when Amanda Parkins of Kitchener, Ont., netted her first of two goals of the contest. That goal stood up as the game winner.
Kaitlyn Mora of Guelph, Ont., found the back of the net with less than two minutes left in the first period for a 2-0 lead, and Parkins tallied her second at 19:37 of the frame to give the Gryphons a three-goal advantage after one period.
The Gryphons continued to press on offence and scored another two goals in the first half of the second, off the sticks of Jenna Lanzarotta of Mississauga, Ont., and Kandace Charbonneau, for a 5-0 lead the squad would not relinquish.
Source: York Sports Info
UOIT @ Brock
The Brock University women's hockey team (0-1 OUA) lost their season opener against the UOIT Ridgebacks by the score of 3-2 Saturday afternoon at the Seymour-Hannah Centre.
The first period was an even battle, both teams getting their chances to break the deadlock. At 4:46 left in the first period, Zoe Battie would put the Ridgebacks in the lead with her first goal of the season.
Brock would outshoot the Ridgebacks 13-11 in the first, but Cassie Charette's solid play kept the score at 1-0 heading into the second period.
The Badgers would tie the game at 1-1, when senior Maja Samborski (Toronto, Ont.) would score on the powerplay at 12:01 of the second. Assists would go to freshman Sarah Dolden (Brampton, Ont.) and sophomore Brittney Cabral (Hamilton, Ont.).
UOIT would respond on the powerplay, when Jill Morillo would score her first of the season at 6:46, assisted by Violette Long, and Battie.
The Ridgebacks would add on to the lead to finish off the period with one second left as Jennifer Daly scored on the scramble putting the Ridgebacks up 3-1 after 40 minutes. Shots on goal after the second period 22-21 Badgers.
The Badgers would score the only goal in the third to put the score 3-2, Sophomore Jaclyn Conacher (Burlington, Ont.) scored her first of the campaign, set up by Katie Howlett (Burlington, Ont.) and Samborski.
Brock would fight hard for the equalizer, but couldn't find the back of the net.
In goal, Brock starter Emily Kelly (Port Elgin, Ont.) recorded 25 saves in the loss. Charette finished with 30 saves for her first victory.
Source: Brock Sports Info
Queen’s @ Toronto
Kelly O’Hanlon scored in the shootout and Nicole Kesteris earned the shutout as the Varsity Blues women’s hockey team defeated the Queen’s Gaels 1-0 on Saturday, October 6 at Varsity Arena.
The Blues pick up their first win of the season and improve to 1-0-1.
A third-year goalie, Kesteris (Aurora, Ont.) was stellar in her first start of the season, making 47 saves to earn the shut out and first star honours.
The game featured no goal scoring during regulation, but did not lack in excitement as both teams played at a frantic pace through the first two periods.
The Gaels took over the territorial advantage in the second, outshooting the Blues 16-5, but Kesteris remained impenetrable, turning away a handful of spectacular scoring chances to keep the Blues in the game.
Ottawa native and veteran forward Amanda Ricker manufactured the Blues best scoring chance of the period. After beating a Queen’s defender with a tremendous curl and drag move, Ricker broke in alone but was unable to beat Gaels goaltender Melanie Dodd-Moher.
Kesteris turned aside another 15 shots in the third to help send the game to overtime.
Sparked by Kesteris’ performance, U of T came out flying in the extra minutes, and had several chances to end the game, including a slap shot from Callie Bazak (Peterborough, Ont.) that rang off Dodd-Moher’s mask, but was covered up before any Blues players could reach it.
Still searching for a way to solve the Queen’s netminder, the Blues turned to veteran forward and team captain Kelly O’Hanlon in the shootout. O’Hanlon did not disappoint, beating Dodd-Moher with a slick deke to the forehand.
Kesteris then turned away all three Gaels shooters to secure the win for Toronto.
The Gaels are 0-0-1 to start their season.
Source: Toronto Sports Info
Waterloo @ Windsor
The Waterloo women's hockey team opened up their season with a hard fought 4-3 overtime loss on Saturday to the Windsor Lancers. Jillian Rops scored the overtime winner to give her Lancers the two points in what was a seesaw battle at the South Windsor Arena.
The visiting Warriors got on the board first as Marissa Redmond (Ajax, Ont.) notched her first goal of her Waterloo career. The powerplay marker at 15:09 was the lone goal of the first period.
Windsor battled back early in the second as Jenny MacKnight scored her first of the season to tie up the game.
After another Warrior goal halfway through the second by rookie Nadiejda Tamitegama (Mont-Royal, Que.), the Lancers squared the game again in early in the third as Natalie Barrette scored to make it 2-2.
Three minutes later, Waterloo would take their third lead of the game as Kelly MacLean (St. George, Ont.) found the back of the net for her first of the season.
To continue the trend Windsor once again would tie it up only one minute later as Bree Polci sent the game into overtime tied 3-3.
The Lancers would put away the Warriors in overtime on a beautiful powerplay goal from Rops.
Starting goalie Rebecca Bouwhuis (Orillia, Ont.) was busy for the Warriors stopping 37 of 41 shots faced in the loss while Lancers keeper Karlyle Robinson allowed three goals on 31 shots.
The Warriors hit the ice again this afternoon for their second straight road game against the Western Mustangs who are coming off an upset victory over the Laurier Golden Hawks yesterday.
Source: Waterloo Sports Info
Laurier @ Western
It’s not often that people get to say they witnessed history being made. However for the boisterous crowd in attendance Saturday night at the Thompson Arena they can indeed say they saw something historic occur.
For the first time in program history, the Western Mustangs women’s hockey team defeated the rival Laurier Golden Hawks, claiming their first win by a 7-2 score.
“Unbelievable,” said Western head coach Chris Higgins following the game. “In our history we’ve never beat Laurier. I’ve got the game puck, we’re going to mount it on the dressing room wall and it’s going to be there forever.”
On a memorable night for the women’s hockey program, the Mustangs were firing on all cylinders, with players both new and old contributing to the victory. Offensively Western was led by Cassidy Gosling, who in her first regular season CIS game scored two goals and an assist, including an absolute beauty of a goal midway through the first period. Second-year netminder Kelly Campbell provided strong goaltending to go along with the offensive outburst, stopping 42 shots to earn the victory.
“I don’t think we had one bad player,” said Higgins about his team’s performance. “If I had to point someone out I thought when we got running around a little bit in our own end I thought Kelly [Campbell] was just strong back there and gave us confidence. Our power play was excellent and our penalty killing, Galloway, Rosen, Green, and Clapham, did a fabulous job.”
The Mustangs were relentless attacking the Laurier net, leading to the team scoring multiple goals within a few minutes. The team got out to a fast start in the first period, when Ally Galloway opened up the scoring a little over five minutes into the game. Cassidy Gosling then didn’t wait long to find the net, scoring just over a minute later to put Western in front by two early on. She’d add another midway through the period to make it 3-0 Mustangs after the first.
The second period was more of the same for the Mustangs, with Stacey Scott, Kendra Deller, and Kryshandra Green all putting pucks past the Laurier goaltenders.
Laurier began to rebound in the third period as the Mustangs found themselves in penalty trouble. Tammy Freiburger put the Golden Hawks on the board, and Robyn Degagne would shortly add another goal to close the gap to 6-2. Unfortunately for the Golden Hawks that was as close as they would get, as Carly Rolph scored Western’s seventh and final goal to cement the victory.
Even though the win is one of the biggest is Western’s history there’s no time for the team to rest on their laurels as they have to face a tough Waterloo squad tomorrow afternoon.
“Waterloo’s going to be good. When you come off a big win like this sometimes there’s a bit of a letdown, so we’re going to have to get on our girls early and make sure we convert and win,” said Higgins.
Source: Western Sports Info
October 7 - Queen’s @ Ryerson
The Ryerson women's hockey team fell 6-0 to the Queen's Gaels Sunday afternoon at Mattamy Home Ice.
The Rams [1-1-0] got behind early and couldn't find a way to swing the momentum against the Gaels [1-0-1], one of the OUA's top teams.
"To give up three goals on the first seven shots is not what we envisioned in terms of the start we wanted," head coach Lisa Haley said. "We expected that (Queen's) would be able to bring a lot of offence and they certainly didn't disappoint."
Taryn Pilon led the Gaels with a four-point (3G, 1A) game, scoring the first, third and fourth goals. The most impressive of Pilon's goals was the fourth, a one-on-four shorthanded effort before roofing the puck over backup goalie Dana Carson.
Alana Smith, Alisha Sealey, and Courtenay Jacklin rounded out the scoring for the Gaels.
After putting 37 shots on goal against Toronto on Friday night, the Rams were held to just 17 this afternoon. Half way through the game, the Rams were outshot 18-7 and only managed two shots in the second period.
"We tried to claw back a few times," Haley said. "We just couldn't find the break or the bounce that would get us back into the game early enough and soon enough it slipped away."
The Rams showed some life in the third period, putting up nine shots and several scoring chances, but the game was already out of reach.
Second-year goaltender Emma Crawley got the start for the Rams, but was pulled in favour of Carson after allowing three goals on seven shots including the first two of the game. Crawley was not to blame for the first goal, as Pilon's shot hit a skate in front of the net and changed direction on her.
"Sometimes when it's the first shot and first goal it's not easy to come back from that," Carson said. "Then the team just kept coming."
Carson made 26 saves in relief while Gaels goalie Karissa Savage stopped all 17 shots for the shutout.
Source: Ryerson Sports Info
Brock @ York
The York University Lions women's hockey team defeated the visiting Brock Badgers 2-1 Sunday afternoon (Oct. 7) at Canlan Ice Sports, earning its first victory of the 2012-13 season.
The victory was a big one for the squad, which rebounded from a shaky season-opening loss on Saturday to the Guelph Gryphons.
The Lions offence pressed early, looking to find the first goal. Defender Megan Finlay of Hamilton, Ont., and forward Erin Cameron of Ajax, Ont., both fired shots off the post before defender Kristen Barbara of Mount Hope, Ont., found the back of the net, receiving a pass in front of the net from Kiri Langford of Collingwood, Ont., and firing it past Badger goalie Claire Shaw of Rosemount, Ont.
Sarai Whitty of Kingston, Ont., was credited with the second assist.
Lions' goalie Megan Lee of Orillia, Ont., made six saves in the first period to keep the Badgers off the board, including a three-shot barrage off of offensive pressure late in the period. Lee stood tall, and York went into the second period with a 1-0 advantage.
The Lions looked eager to add to their lead early in the second frame, as forward Kristie Wilson of Hamilton, Ont., was sprung on a breakaway, only narrowly missing her shot on net.
Forward Lisa Stathopulos of Toronto, Ont., scored the eventual game-winner after craftily undressing the Badger defence with stick dekes before beating the goalie low to the glove side at 5:56 of the second. Defender Lindsay Brook of Ste. Rose Du Lac, Man., picked up the assist.
The Badgers looked to answer, and established strong offensive zone control on a subsequent power play, a strategy they looked to for the rest of the game. Shortly after the penalized Lion returned to the ice, forward Megan Keane of Pefferlaw, Ont., beat Lee on a surprise wraparound at 8:39 of the period.
Lee performed admirably the rest of the second period, including making a critical save on a huge one-timer from the point by defender Maja Samborski of Toronto to hold onto a 2-1 lead heading into the third.
The Lions' focus switched to defence in the third period. Their offensive strategy, which until then had favoured setting up point shots and looking for deflections with traffic in front, switched up to a deep zone cycle that ate minutes harmlessly off the clock.
Both Barbara and fellow defender Jamie Endrizzi of Toronto made critical blocks and zone clears as the Lions kept the Badgers from scoring despite heavy last minute pressure as Shaw was pulled in favour of the extra attacker with 1:17 remaining in the game.
Lee came away with an impressive 21-save performance, a critical factor in the tight win. The Badgers outshot the Lions 22-21 in the game, a testament both to the strong play of Lee as well as that of the York offence.
Source: York Sports Info
Waterloo @ Western
After an exciting and historic win yesterday over the Laurier Golden Hawks 7-2, The Mustangs came out looking to prove themselves as a team once again versus the Waterloo Warriors. With another outstanding performance by 2nd year veteran Kelly Campbell, the Mustangs were able to shut out the Warriors to win the game 3-0 and extend their season record to 2-0.
Campbell wasn’t the only star of the game, as rookie Cassidy Gosling opened the scoring for Western with only 15 seconds remaining in the first period, assisted by Stacey Scott and Kendra Deller. Now it isn’t unfamiliar to have these three forwards appear on the same game sheet, as they used to play on the same line with their former team, the London Junior Devilettes.
“Cassidy Gosling is unbelievable, as soon as I had Kendra Deller and Stacey Scott on the team last year I was going after Gosling,” said head coach Chris Higgins, who has previously coached the players on the London Jr. Devilettes team. With 2 goals against Laurier and another against Waterloo, Gosling places herself as not only one of the leading scorers on the team, but in the OUA league.
Fellow line mate Stacey Scott scored halfway into the second period, splitting the defence and picking up her own rebound, putting the Mustangs up by 2. With penalty difficulty on each end, both teams had to rely on their power play units to keep them in the game. The Mustangs held the lead at 2-0 going into the third.
With another well-fought period, Western’s Captain Carly Rolph showed her experience as a veteran and scored the Mustangs' third and final goal of the game. Goaltender Kelly Campbell took her shut out with 30 saves in the game; only 5 less then the Western shooters would take. Western was able to come out with 2 wins this weekend, but they are still looking to improve as the season continues.
“All we have to solve is our penalty problem, if we can solve that we can be that team to beat,” coach Higgins commented.
Source: Western Sports Info
Laurier @ Windsor
Erika Thunder of Buffalo Point, Man., turned aside all 31 shots directed her way to lead the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (1-1-0) past the Windsor Lancers (1-1-0) 2-0 on Sunday afternoon.
The second year netminder, who led the conference a year ago in wins, save percentage and shutouts, was especially strong in the opening period as Windsor outshot the Hawks 15-9 but were held off the scoreboard.
Laurier would open the scoring early in the second period when Laura Brooker of Fergus, Ont., beat Lancers starting goalie Karlyle Robinson of St. Catharines, Ont., to put the Hawks up 1-0.
Brittany Crago of Stouffville, Ont., increased the Hawks cushion to two goals early in the third period after being setup by linemate Andrea Shapero of Toronto. Thunder and the Hawks defence would do the rest, shutting down the Lancers for the remainder of the game to come away with the victory.
The Hawks special teams were also a big factor in the game as they killed off six Lancer powerplays, including a four-minute powerplay midway through the second period.
Source: Laurier Sports Info
