W-HOCKEY ROUNDUP: OUA teams celebrate IIHF Girl's Hockey Weekend
October 12 – York @ UOIT
The UOIT Ridgebacks won their 2012-13 women’s hockey home opener on Friday night with a 4-3 victory over the York Lions.
York opened scoring up 8:39 into the first period as Lisa Stathopulos slipped one past UOIT freshman goaltender Cassie Charette for her second goal of the season.
UOIT would bounce back in the second period when third year forward Gillian Morgan scored back-to-back goals. Morgan’s second strike was a highlight reel goal as she deked around the York defender and buried a wrist shot over the glove of York goalie Jessalyn Bogacki. Zoe Battie earned assists on both goals while Jill Morillo had one on the second.
The Ridgebacks would take a 3-1 lead 45 seconds after their second goal as Alyssa Palmer-Dixon scored. Sarah Worthington and Jennifer Daly recorded assists on the Palmer-Dixon’s first career OUA goal.
Late in the third period, UOIT would find themselves in penalty trouble as they had three players in the box. York would take full advantage of the opportunity as they scored two power plays goals to tie the game at 3-3. Kiri Langford and Rebecca Bond were the goal scorers.
In the final frame, it was another UOIT freshman getting on the scoresheet as Victoria MacKenzie scored off a scramble in front of the net to give the Ridgebacks a 4-3 lead. MacKenzie’s first career goal turned out to be the game winner as the Ridgebacks defence stood strong for the remaining ten minutes shutting down the Lions offensive attack.
Charette made 26 saves for her second win in between the pipes for UOIT while Bogacki stopped 29 of 33 Ridgeback shots.
York was 2-for-8 with the man advantage while UOIT was 0-for-3.
Source: UOIT Sports Info
October 13 – Toronto @ Waterloo
The Toronto Varsity Blues edged the Warriors 2-1 in a shootout as part of the IIHF World Female Hockey Day Marathon and Fundraiser at RIM Park on Saturday afternoon. Courtney Tougas (Thunder Bay, Ont.) scored in the fourth round of the shootout to solidify the two points for the Blues.
The Warriors came out of the gate flying in what was their home opening game peppering shots from all angles on Blues goalie Krista Funke (Regina, Sask.) but the second year keeper stood her ground. The best chance of the period came from a goal mouth scramble which gave Sarah Wolfe (Waterloo, Ont.) an opportunity to open the scoring but was denied by Funke.
The Warriors came out determined to take the lead in the second and midway through the frame found the opening marker as Katie Dods (Kemptville, Ont.) potted her first career Warrior goal at the 9:28 minute mark. Dods was set up by a streaking Jessica Tracey (Woodslee, Ont.) who slid a perfect pass over to her linemate. Dods did the rest putting an open look shot past Funke. Danielle Harvey (Waterloo, Ont.) was credited with the second assist on the goal.
Following the Warrior marker, the Blues turned up their offensive pressure but could not solve Waterloo goalie Rebecca Bouwhuis (Orillia, Ont.) as the period would end with the Warriors out front 1-0.
The Blues continued their momentum into the third period and were rewarded with a goal by Sonja Weidenfelder (Toronto), her first of the season. Weidenfelder picked up a rebound and fired it home past the helpless Bouwhuis to even the score at one. Brittany Kirby (Vancouver) and Kelly O'Hanlon (Markham, Ont.) picked up the helpers.
The two combatants would continue to exchange chances throughout the dying minutes of the third and overtime but both goalies stood tall, sending the game to a shootout where Tougas was the only goal scorer.
Both Bouwhuis and Funke stopped 27 of 28 shots faced with Funke blanking Waterloo in the shootout.
Source: Waterloo Sports Info
Brock @ Western
The Brock Badgers gave the Western Mustangs a fair fight Saturday at Thompson Arena, but the Mustangs prevailed with a 3-0 victory, their third of the season. Mustangs goaltender Kelly Campbell kept Brock scoreless throughout the entirety of the game turning away all 30 shots on her net, and giving Campbell her second shutout this season.
The first period was filled with defensive battles, as scorers from both teams were prevented from putting one in the back of the net. However, Western showed their eagerness to score as they outshot the Badgers 14-6 in the first 20 minutes.
Western shooters looked to bring the same intensity back out to the ice for
the second period, but would be denied until late in the frame. Veteran Ally Galloway scored Western’s first goal with help from rookie Kryshanda Green and second-year defender Madison Turk. Galloway’s goal put Western up by one by the end of the second, allowing Western to enter the third with a small lead.
Western knew they would have to keep the intensity up against Brock as the game was far from over. “Brock played extremely well, we just have a little more skill for scoring and took advantage of that” commented head coach Chris Higgins following the game. Rookie Kryshanda Green proved Western’s scoring edge with her own solo goal halfway through the third.
Green’s goal would establish a comfortable lead for the Mustangs, but Galloway wasn’t finished yet. Only 30 seconds following Green’s goal, Galloway would score her second of the game. Setting the score at 3-0 for Western.
“The girls have realized we just can’t look at the standings and assume were that good, we’ve got to come out each game ready to play” commented coach Higgins after the game.
Source: Western Sports Info
Laurier @ Ryerson
The Laurier Golden Hawks scored three goals in under 10 minutes of play in the first period and never looked back to defeat the Ryerson Rams, 7-2, on Saturday afternoon at the Mattamy Athletic Centre at the Gardens.
Starting goaltender, Brianna Tremblay, started the game but after letting in two goals on three shots, was pulled in favour of Dana Carson.
After a quick goal on Carson before she got settled, Devon Skeets, with her second of the evening on the power play, pushed the lead to 4-0.
The Rams got on the board before the end of the period, when a Mackenzie Manning shot deflected off a Laurier defender and found the back of the net.
Tremblay was back in goal to start the second period and it seemed to give the Rams a spark. A Melissa Wronzberg shot from the point on the power play was deflected by first-year forward Michelle Evagelou and went into the net to close the lead to 4-2.
The Golden Hawks were dominant in the third period, scoring three times and taking advantage of the Rams turnovers.
Overall, the Golden Hawks outshot Ryerson, 24-22.
Source: Ryerson Sports Info
York @ Queen’s
Karissa Savage (Calgary, Alta.) put up a shutout leading the Gaels to 3-0 win over the York Lions in their first regular season home game at the Memorial Centre Saturday night.
The game got off to a quick start, with Queen's playing a primarily offensive game to start off the first period. Following many Queen's scoring opportunities, Allie Biglieri (Toronto, Ont.) scored for the Gaels at 10:33 assisted by Chelsey Verbeek (Beiseker, Alta.) and Sydney Cudmore (Oakville, Ont.). The remainder of the first period was action-packed, but the Gaels were able to hold on to their 1-0 lead.
The Gaels started the second period with an unassisted power play goal at 1:25 by Brittany McHaffie (Guelph, Ont.) putting the Gaels up 2-0. The rest of the period was scoreless despite numerous scoring attempts.
Chantal Morais (Guelph, Ont.) added another power play goal for the Gaels at 4:35 in the third period with assists by Morgan McHaffie (Guelph, Ont.) and Katie Duncan (Waterloo, Ont.).
The Gaels were 2-9 on the power play and the Lions were 0-4.
Savage had 28 saves for Queen's. Megan Lee (Orillia, Ont.) also put up 28 saves for York.
Source: Queen’s Sports Info
October 14 – Queen’s @ UOIT
The UOIT Ridgebacks women’s hockey team could not overcome a slow start as they were defeated by a score of 5-1 on Sunday afternoon against the Queen’s Gaels.
The No. 9 CIS ranked Gaels dominated the first two periods outscoring UOIT 4-0. Queen’s forwards Courtenay Jacklin had three assists, while Taryn Pilon had two of the four goals.
On the power play in the third period, UOIT responded with a quick strike as Samantha Forchelli scored her first career goal at the 3:09 minute mark. Jennifer Daly and Melissa Berney picked up assists on the play.
However, Queen’s would put an end to any sort of comeback as they scored a fifth goal to win by four. Chantal Morais registered the late goal, which was her second of the game.
UOIT freshman goalie Cassie Charette allowed the games’ first four goals, as she stopped 20 of 24 Queen’s shots. Jessica Larabie came into the game in relief and allowed one goal on 18 shots. Melanie Dodd-Moher made 24 saves in the win.
Queen’s outshot UOIT 42-25.
The Ridgebacks are 2-2-0 to start the season while Queen’s improves to 3-0-1.
Source: UOIT Sports Info
Guelph @ Western
The Western Mustangs women's hockey team took their first loss of the season to the Guelph Gryphons 3-0 tonight, following an impressive 3-0 start to their regular season.
The caliber of play set during the first period by both teams was outstanding. A strong offensive presence persisted in each end, but Guelph’s leading scorer Amanda Parkins found the back of the net before the end of the first.
The second period held the same intensity in the first, and the players became more aggressive as tensions grew. Western was hungry to even the score, but the Gryphons' impressive goaltending held them back through several chances.
Guelph captilized where Western could not and put their second and final goal past Western halfway through the second. Guelph would take the lead into the second intermission, leaving Western down by two.
The third period held promise, however missed opportunities let Guelph take the win over the Mustangs.
“I feel we played one of our best games of the season,” head Coach Chris Higgins said following the game, “their goalie became the difference after some key saves.”
Higgins is confident the team can rebound quickly despite a tough defeat.
“Winning can also hide some faults, and (tonight) we learned that our power play needs work," he commented. "That will be our focus for this week (moving forward)."
Western takes to the road next weekend for their first away game of the season against the University of Toronto. The Mustangs will play at October 19th at 7:30pm against the Toronto Varsity Blues.
Source: Western Sports Info
Ryerson @ Waterloo
The Waterloo women's hockey team continues to search for their first win of the season after the Ryerson Rams blanked the Warriors 4-0 on Sunday afternoon at the Wilmot Recreation Complex in New Hamburg. The Warriors drop to 0-2-2 following the loss while Ryerson improved to 2-2-0.
First-year forward Samantha Pui opened the scoring at the 12:33 mark of the first period with her first career OUA goal on a feed from Melissa Wronzberg.
The Rams went up 2-0 seven minutes into the middle frame when Wronzberg scored on a set-up from Jessica Hartwick and Emily Rose Galliana Pecchia.
Ryerson stretched the lead to 3-0 less than three minutes into the third period on Patricia Kirk's first goal of the season. Chloe Richardson added an empty netter with an assist going to Ryerson keeper Brianna Tremblay, making the final 4-0 Ryerson.
The Rams were 0-for-4 on the power play, while the Warriors were 0-for-5. Waterloo goaltender Rebecca Bouwhuis (Orillia, Ont.) stopped 19 of 22 shots faced while Tremblay recorded the shutout making 24 saves.
The winless Warriors look to reverse their fortune next weekend when they travel to Oshawa to face the UOIT Ridgebacks on Saturday, October 20.
Source: Waterloo Sports Info
Laurier @ Toronto
The Varsity Blues women’s hockey team fell 5-2 to the Laurier Golden Hawks on Sunday, October 14 at Varsity Arena.
With the loss, the Blues fall to 2-1-1 on the season, while the Golden Hawks improve to 3-1-0, and move past Toronto in the OUA standings.
The Blues got goals from team captain Kelly O’Hanlon (Markham, Ont.), and rookie forward Taylor Day (Ilderton, Ont.), who scored her first career goal in the Blue and White.
Nicole Kesteris (Aurora, Ont.) stood tall in net. The third-year Blues goaltender made 44 saves and gave the Blues a chance to win the game, despite being outshot 49-25.
The Blues had several quality opportunities in the first, including a breakaway from Courtney Tougas (Thunder Bay, Ont.). Tougas fought off a Laurier defender and rifled a shot high off Golden Hawks netminder Erika Thunder’s shoulder. The puck then rolled towards the goal line but was swept away before any Blues player could reach it.
The Golden Hawks opened the scoring shortly after, when defenceman Fiona Lester took advantage of a fortunate bounce in the slot and chipped the puck home at 7:20 of the first period.
The Blues would get on the board with a powerplay goal in the second frame. With the score 2-0 in favour of the Golden Hawks, O’Hanlon tipped a pass from Toronto native Sonja Weidenfelder that slid underneath Thunder to cut the deficit to one.
They were unable to muster any further offence in the period, however, and with 11:12 left, Hawks forward Laura Brooker broke in alone and roofed a backhand to put Laurier up 3-1.
Kesteris kept the game from slipping away in the third, as she turned away 18 shots to hold the score at 4-1. Then, with only 2:57 left in the final frame, Day tipped a point shot from Marlie McLaughlin (Ottawa, Ont.) past Thunder to give the Blues life.
With two minutes remaining, and a faceoff in the Golden Hawks end, Toronto pulled Kesteris for the extra attacker, but was unable to get the puck to the net.
Devon Skeats found the empty net shortly after to seal the win for the Golden Hawks.
The Hawks were led by Laura Brooker, who had two goals and an assist en route to being named the game’s first star.
The Blues return to action this Friday, October 19, when they host the Western Mustangs at Varsity Arena. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
Source: Toronto Sports Info
