October 29, 2012
W-HOCKEY ROUNDUP: Queen's down Laurier in OT in battle for top spot
October 26 - Brock @ Toronto
Kelly O’Hanlon’s two goals led the Varsity Blues women’s hockey team to a 4-2 victory over the Brock Badgers on Friday, October 26 at Varsity Arena.
The Blues have won three in a row, and are now tied with the Queen’s Gaels for second place in the OUA with a 5-1-1 record.
O’Hanlon (Markham, Ont.) scored twice to pick up her fifth goal in the last two games, and team-leading sixth of the season. She is tied for second in the OUA with nine points. Amanda Ricker (Ottawa, Ont.) and Jacqueline Sheffel (Waubaushene, Ont.) also scored for the Blues, with Ricker adding an assist.
Regina native Krista Funke made 39 saves in net for U of T to earn her third win in four starts this season.
The Blues were outshot 14-4 in the opening period, but Funke stopped everything that came her way. Toronto then opened the scoring with 1:32 remaining, when Ragan Danford (Madoc, Ont.) broke in and slid the puck across to Ricker who buried it to put the Blues up 1-0. O’Hanlon got her first just 30 seconds later after a nice rush from defenceman Stacey Oue (Scarborough, Ont.). Oue weaved her way into the zone and fed the puck to O’Hanlon in the slot, who slid it five-hole past Brock goaltender Emily Kelly.
Brock tightened the game midway through the second on a wrap-a-round goal from Jessica Fickel.
The game remained close thanks to several big-time saves from Funke, until 6:25 into the third period when Scheffel connected on a wrap-a-round goal of her own to give the Blues back the two-goal lead. Rookie Taylor Day (Ilderton, Ont.) and Kingston native Leila Chan Currie assisted on the goal.
O’Hanlon would put the game out of reach with her second of the night at 9:34 of the third. After receiving the puck from Weidenfelder (Toronto) along the half-boards, the Blues captain stepped out and waltzed around a Badgers defender before backhanding the puck through Kelly to make the score 4-1 in favour of Toronto.
Funke remained solid in defending the Blues lead. She made 13 saves in the final frame, including a huge pad save on a breakaway deke by Badgers forward Hailey Webb.
Brock would find a way through Funke on the powerplay with five minutes remaining. Team captain Somborski wired a slapshot off a faceoff win that found the back of the net, but that would be as close as it got, as U of T held on to win the game 4-2.
Source: Toronto Sports Info
Laurier @ Waterloo
The Laurier Golden Hawks skated away with a 3-0 shutout victory over the Warriors at the CIF arena on Friday night in the first battle of Waterloo of 2012.
Netminder Kayla Brown (Lively, Ont.) picked up her first CIS shutout and three different Golden Hawks scored as Laurier won their sixth straight game. The Hawks are now 6-1-0 on the season good for first overall in the OUA while Waterloo dropped to 1-4-2.
After a scoreless first period, Laurier found the opening goal midway through the second as Jessie Hurrell (Palgrave, Ont.) picked off a Waterloo clearing attempt and fired it home past a helpless Rebecca Bouwhuis (Orillia).
Laurier added to their lead with only 17 seconds remaining in the second frame as Caitlin Muirhead (Waterloo, Ont.) went end-to-end and finished it off on the blocker side of Bouwhuis. The goal sent the dejected Warriors into the locker room down two.
The home side would show their fight in the third with quality chances by Jessica Tracey (Woodslee) and Kelly MacLean (St. George) but the veteran forwards to not find an opening past Brown. Devon Skeats (Whitby, Ont.) would add an empty netter to give the Hawks the 3-0 victory.
Brown stopped all 24 shots faced while Bouwhuis allowed two goals on 25 shots.
Source: Waterloo Sports Info
October 27 - Queen's @ Laurier
Riding a six-game winning streak, the No. 7 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women's hockey team hosted the No. 6 Queen's Gaels on Saturday afternoon at the Sun Life Financial Arena. The Gaels scored early in overtime to defeat the Hawks 4-3.
Queen's opened up the scoring in the first period with Alexandria Biglieri of Toronto, scoring her second goal of the season. Biglieri's goal was the only of the first frame.
Laurier leveled the scoring in what would be a wild second period while on the powerplay. Devon Skeats of Whitby, Ont., beat the goaltender for her sixth goal of the season. Queen's then scored a pair of goals just a minute apart to give them a 3-1 lead. Laurier responded late in the second period with Candice Styles of Orangeville, Ont., scoring her second goal of the season. Laurier then tied the game up again with OUA-leading scorer Skeats netting her second goal of the game, and seventh on the season. Skeats now leads the OUA in goals and she also added a helper on Styles' tally for a three-point game.
The third period was scoreless, sending the game to overtime. Two minutes into the extra period, Skeats took a hooking call sending the Gaels to the power play where Brittany McHaffie of Guelph, Ont., won the game for Queen's.
Source: Laurier Sports Info
York @ Western
The York University Lions women's hockey team faced action on the road this Saturday (Oct 27), dropping a 3-2 decision to the Western Mustangs in London, Ont.
The Lions allowed the Mustangs to pull ahead 3-0 before finally getting on the board, and they nearly completed the comeback attempt in the third period. But they were unable to find the equalizer before time expired.
The Mustangs were first to find the board, notching a goal at 11:52 of the first period off the stick of Natasha Panahi (Coquitlam, B.C.) with an assist from Samantha Nastasiuk (Barrie, Ont.). Despite outshooting the Mustangs 13-7 in the first period, the Lions went into the second trailing 1-0.
Western extended its lead early in the second period, notching a power play goal just over one minute in as Kendra Deller (London, Ont.) was able to beat Lions' goalie Megan Lee (Orillia, Ont.) off an assist from Cassidy Gosling (London, Ont.), increasing the Mustangs lead to two goals.
The Mustangs added another at 6:52 of the second period, with Carly Rolph (Guelph, Ont.) finding the back of the net with help from Brittany Clapham (Tottenham, Ont.), forcing a 3-0 lead before the Lions' were finally able to answer.
The first Lions goal came from Victoria Benacquista (Keswick, Ont.) at 11:23 of the second frame. Sarah Conway (Orillia, Ont.) was credited with the assist on Benacquista's second goal of the season as the Lions' sought to close the gap on the Mustangs.
An exciting late effort by Lion Kim Ramcharan (Brampton, Ont.) brought the Lions back within one with less than a minute remaining in the second period. Erin Cameron (Ajax, Ont.) and Lindsay Brook (Ste Rose du Lac, Man.) both earned assists on the last-minute goal, which came at 19:03 of the second period, setting up a tense final frame as the Lions trailed 3-2 going into the third.
Despite strong third-period offensive pressure from the Lions, they were unable to beat Mustangs' goalie Olivia Ross (Mississauga, Ont.). The Lions pulled Lee for the last minute and change of the final period, and came very close to tying the game and forcing an overtime period. Their best chance was off a backhand shot from leading scorer Lisa Stathopulos (Toronto) that sailed just wide of the top corner in the final minute of the game.
Despite outshooting the Mustangs fairly consistently over the course of the game, the strong play of Ross allowed the Mustangs to defend a narrow-margin victory with a collapsing defensive strategy. Ross made 30 saves on 32 shots in her winning effort, while Lee faced 26 shots and managed 23 saves.
The loss brings the Lions' record to just 2-4-1 for the season.
Source: York Sports Info
UOIT @ Windsor
The UOIT Ridgebacks women’s hockey team could not hold on to a two goal lead on the road as they were defeated by the Windsor Lancers 5-3 on Saturday.
UOIT led 3-1 midway through the second period, but Windsor stormed back with four unanswered goals to pick up their fifth win of the season.
The Ridgebacks and Lancers skated into the locker room tied 1-1 after twenty minutes, as UOIT captain Jill Morillo (Whitby, Ont.) scored her third goal of the season.
In the second period, UOIT starting goalie Cassie Charette (Ottawa, Ont.) was replaced by veteran Jessica Larabie (Whitby, Ont.) after suffering an undisclosed injury.
The Ridgebacks offence gave Larabie some support to start the period as they went up by two goals, with Jennifer Daly (Ajax, Ont.) and Violette Long (Oshawa, Ont.) scoring for UOIT. Jaclyn Gibson (Cobourg, Ont.) picked up assists on both goals.
Before the period ended, Windsor started the comeback notching two goals of their own, to tie the game up at 3-3.
In the final frame, Windsor would take a lead at the 10:30 minute mark as Candace Kourounis recorded her first goal of the year. Windsor would manage to add one more goal before time expired as they skated away with the 5-3 victory.
Source: UOIT Sports Info
Guelph @ Toronto
Nicole Kesteris posted 34 saves in leading the Varsity Blues women’s hockey team to a 2-1 shootout win over the No. 8 Guelph Gryphons on Saturday, October 27 at Varsity Arena.
The Blues continue their hot start to the season with their fourth straight victory. Their 6-1-1 record lifts them into a three-way tie with Queens and Laurier for first place in the OUA.
Stacey Oue (Scarborough, Ont.) had U of T’s lone goal in regulation time, while Callie Bazak (Peterborough, Ont.) scored the shootout winner. Taylor Day (Ilderton, Ont.) picked up the only assist on Oue’s goal. Day continues her impressive rookie season, and was named the game’s first star.
Kesteris added to her already remarkable 0.933 save percentage by making 34 saves and stopping every attempt in the shootout en route to the win.
Toronto’s special teams made a huge difference, as they went 1-for-3 on the powerplay, and killed off all five penalties.
Oue opened the scoring midway through the first on the man advantage. Oue capped off some excellent puck movement by the Blues when she one-timed a pass from Day and beat Guelph goaltender Brooke Siddall.
The Gryphons responded in the second period on a goal from Talia Paone. Kesteris made the initial save, but the Blues were unable to find the rebound, and the puck bounced to Paone who jammed it in the net.
Kesteris shone through the third and into overtime, making 17 saves to help get the game to a shootout. Leading OUA point-getter and Gryphons forward Amanda Parkins had several quality scoring chances but Kesteris was up to the task.
The teams traded scoring chances in overtime. Kesteris slid across to rob Christine Grant on a one-time opportunity, and Callie Bazak stole the puck at the Guelph blueline and raced in alone, but was denied by Siddall.
With the score still tied after the overtime period, the game went to a shootout, where Kesteris continued to stump the Gryphons shooters, stopping all three shots.
That set the stage for Bazak, who continued her clutch play during sudden death this season, and wired a slapshot top corner over Siddall’s glove to give the Blues the win.
Source: Toronto Sports Info
October 28 - Queen's @ Waterloo
The Queen's Gaels shut the Warriors out 3-0 on Sunday afternoon at the CIF arena to remain undefeated on the season with a 7-0-1 record. For the Warriors, the offensive struggles continued going their last seven periods without a goal and seeing their record drop to 1-5-2 on the season.
Karissa Savage (Calgary, Alta.) stopped all 19 shots faced to earn the shutout.
Morgan McHaffie (Guelph, Ont.) scored a power play goal for the Gaels at 15:25 with assists by Brittany McHaffie (Guelph, Ont.) and Alisha Sealey (Elora, Ont.). Katie Duncan (Kitchener, Ont.) added a second power play goal for Queen's in the last minute of the first period putting the Gaels up 2-0.
The second period was scoreless allowing the Gaels to carry their 2-0 lead into the third period. Courtenay Jacklin (Regina, Sask.) scored at 3:29 with assists by Sealy and McHaffie bringing the game to its final score of 3-0.
Rebecca Bouwhuis (Orillia) had 9 saves and Allie Mitchell (Niagara Falls) had 16 saves for the Warriors.
Source: Waterloo Sports Info
UOIT @ Western
After a win against York on Saturday, the Western Mustangs women’s hockey team hoped to keep the intensity high and get their second win of the weekend, facing off against the UOIT Ridgebacks on Sunday afternoon at Thompson Arena. After three well played periods and solid goaltending from Kelly Campbell, Western beat the UOIT Ridgebacks, 2-0.
The Mustangs had an opportunity to take the lead early on with a five-on-three power play in the opening minutes of the game, but the Ridgebacks were able to keep the Mustangs from taking the early lead. Despite killing off the the five-on-three UOIT would not be able to keep the Western scorers off the board in the first as Samantha Nastasiuk, with an assist from Carly Rolph, scored top shelf on the Ridgeback goalie Jessica Larabie. The Mustangs would take their hard fought 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
With two periods still to be played the Mustangs needed to keep their intensity up and the Mustangs defence kept the Ridgeback scorers from seizing key chances for the ridgebacks to even the score. The second period would remain 1-0 in Westerns favour, as both teams were unable to find success in their opponents end.
The third period opened up for Western shooters as they out shot the Ridgebacks 20-7. Sidney Kidd’s would find the back of the net with just under seven minutes left in the period on a slap shot from the point, giving the Mustangs their second and final goal off the game. Western would hold on for the remainder of the frame, taking home a 2-0 victory.
“The [power play units] didn’t score until the end, they had all kinds of chances,” said head Coach Chris Higgins following the game. “That’s all we can do, give them the puck. Their goalie played extremely well tonight.”
“We’ve been working on our conditioning all year,” said Higgins on the strength of the team in the final 20 minutes. “If we win the third period of every game, we will be in great shape by the end of the season.”
Source: Western Sports Info
Ryerson @ Guelph
The Gryphon women’s hockey team shutout the visiting Rams 3-0 this afternoon (Oct. 28) in a final minute thriller, at the Gryphon Centre.
The win advances the Gryphons to 5-2-1 and drops the Rams to 2-4-0 on the season.
The Gryphons got off to slow and shaky start, despite having an advantage on the ice for 10 full minutes of the first period. Guelph created several unsuccessful scoring attempts, outshooting their opponents 10 to six, but couldn’t score on the power play. The Rams did an exceptional job on the penalty kill, but were also unable to capitalize while on the power play.
Guelph began the second period with more energy and notched their first goal of the game at 1:37. Brittney Crawford quickly attacked the Rams net after winning a faceoff in Ryerson’s zone, and Averi Nooren (Aylmer, ON) smacked the rebounded puck into the back of the Ram’s net, advancing the score to 1-0. The Gryphons had finally found their groove and continued to show their dominance around the net outshooting their opponent’s seven to four.
The Gryphons continued to dominate play in the Rams zone early in the third period and marked their second goal of the game when Jenna Lanzarotta (Mississauga, ON) fed a behind-the-net pass to Kate Mora, who was positioned in front of the Rams goal, and scored. The Gryphons led 2-0 after two periods of play.
The final three minutes were the most exciting of the game, when the Rams had a two-man advantage over the Gryphons. The Gryphons successfully killed the first power play, but then the Rams pulled their goalie to take the six on four advantage, but their effort was in vain. Amanda Parkins (Kitchener, ON) beat her opponent to a puck that had been iced down into the Rams zone, and passed it Christine Grant (Mississauga, ON) who scored on the open net to win the game 3-0.
Brooke Siddle (Windsor, ON) earned the shutout for the Gryphons stopping 16 shots on net. Dana Carson (London, ON) went the distance for the Rams stopping 19 of 21 shots. Each team went 0/5 on the power play.
Source: Guelph Sports Info
York @ Windsor
The York University Lions women's hockey team continued its extended road trip this Sunday afternoon (Oct. 28), dropping a 6-2 decision to the Windsor Lancers in Windsor, Ont.
The Lancers sprung to an early lead in the first period, with Bree Polci (London, Ont.) scoring at 8:18 off of assists from Krysten Bortolotti (Belle River, Ont.) and Adalena Tridico (Windsor, Ont.). The Lancers added another goal on the power play off the stick of Courtney Spoors (Kingsville, Ont.) with assists from Jenny MacKnight (Regina) and Candice Chevalier (Essex, Ont.) at 15:02.
Despite being heavily outshot 20-8 in the first period, the predictably impressive play of Lions' goalie Megan Lee (Orillia, Ont.) allowed the Lions to trail by just the two goals going into the second period.
Windsor, however, looked to extend its lead in the second frame as Candace Kourounis (Markham, Ont.) beat Lee just 4:47 into the period. Jillian Rops (Sarnia, Ont.) and Lindsay Hoogstraten (St. George, Ont.) earned assists on the play.
Rops would later increase the Lancer lead to four, scoring at 12:15 of the second off of assists from Chevalier and Kiely Barnett (Newmarket, Ont.), which allowed the Lancers to take a 4-0 lead into the final period.
The Lions managed to put themselves on the board in the third period, as Megan Finlay (Hamilton, Ont.) finally solved Lancer goalie Karlyle Robinson (St. Catharines, Ont.) on the power play at 8:04 of the final frame. Kristen Barbara (Mount Hope, Ont.) and Sarai Whitty (Kingston, Ont.) assisted on Finlay's first goal of the season.
However, the Lancers quickly answered with a goal from Hoogstraten, her third of her season, with assists from Ally Strickland (Chatham, Ont.) and Bortolotti just one minute after Finlay's marker.
Leading York scorer Lisa Stathopulos (Toronto) put up a shorthanded goal to start closing the gap, scoring her fifth of the season at 14:26 of the period, with assists from Barbara, her second of the game, and team captain Chloe Milano (Maple, Ont.).
The recovery was short-lived as the Lancers answered again less than one minute later with Bortolotti scoring on assists from Polci and Strickland, marking the game's final goal.
Lee faced 54 shots in the matchup and made 48 saves, while Robinson made just 35 saves on 37 shots.
The loss brings the Lions' record to 2-5-1 on the season, while the Lancers improve to 6-2-0.
Source: York Sports Info
Kelly O’Hanlon’s two goals led the Varsity Blues women’s hockey team to a 4-2 victory over the Brock Badgers on Friday, October 26 at Varsity Arena.
The Blues have won three in a row, and are now tied with the Queen’s Gaels for second place in the OUA with a 5-1-1 record.
O’Hanlon (Markham, Ont.) scored twice to pick up her fifth goal in the last two games, and team-leading sixth of the season. She is tied for second in the OUA with nine points. Amanda Ricker (Ottawa, Ont.) and Jacqueline Sheffel (Waubaushene, Ont.) also scored for the Blues, with Ricker adding an assist.
Regina native Krista Funke made 39 saves in net for U of T to earn her third win in four starts this season.
The Blues were outshot 14-4 in the opening period, but Funke stopped everything that came her way. Toronto then opened the scoring with 1:32 remaining, when Ragan Danford (Madoc, Ont.) broke in and slid the puck across to Ricker who buried it to put the Blues up 1-0. O’Hanlon got her first just 30 seconds later after a nice rush from defenceman Stacey Oue (Scarborough, Ont.). Oue weaved her way into the zone and fed the puck to O’Hanlon in the slot, who slid it five-hole past Brock goaltender Emily Kelly.
Brock tightened the game midway through the second on a wrap-a-round goal from Jessica Fickel.
The game remained close thanks to several big-time saves from Funke, until 6:25 into the third period when Scheffel connected on a wrap-a-round goal of her own to give the Blues back the two-goal lead. Rookie Taylor Day (Ilderton, Ont.) and Kingston native Leila Chan Currie assisted on the goal.
O’Hanlon would put the game out of reach with her second of the night at 9:34 of the third. After receiving the puck from Weidenfelder (Toronto) along the half-boards, the Blues captain stepped out and waltzed around a Badgers defender before backhanding the puck through Kelly to make the score 4-1 in favour of Toronto.
Funke remained solid in defending the Blues lead. She made 13 saves in the final frame, including a huge pad save on a breakaway deke by Badgers forward Hailey Webb.
Brock would find a way through Funke on the powerplay with five minutes remaining. Team captain Somborski wired a slapshot off a faceoff win that found the back of the net, but that would be as close as it got, as U of T held on to win the game 4-2.
Source: Toronto Sports Info
Laurier @ Waterloo
The Laurier Golden Hawks skated away with a 3-0 shutout victory over the Warriors at the CIF arena on Friday night in the first battle of Waterloo of 2012.
Netminder Kayla Brown (Lively, Ont.) picked up her first CIS shutout and three different Golden Hawks scored as Laurier won their sixth straight game. The Hawks are now 6-1-0 on the season good for first overall in the OUA while Waterloo dropped to 1-4-2.
After a scoreless first period, Laurier found the opening goal midway through the second as Jessie Hurrell (Palgrave, Ont.) picked off a Waterloo clearing attempt and fired it home past a helpless Rebecca Bouwhuis (Orillia).
Laurier added to their lead with only 17 seconds remaining in the second frame as Caitlin Muirhead (Waterloo, Ont.) went end-to-end and finished it off on the blocker side of Bouwhuis. The goal sent the dejected Warriors into the locker room down two.
The home side would show their fight in the third with quality chances by Jessica Tracey (Woodslee) and Kelly MacLean (St. George) but the veteran forwards to not find an opening past Brown. Devon Skeats (Whitby, Ont.) would add an empty netter to give the Hawks the 3-0 victory.
Brown stopped all 24 shots faced while Bouwhuis allowed two goals on 25 shots.
Source: Waterloo Sports Info
October 27 - Queen's @ Laurier
Riding a six-game winning streak, the No. 7 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women's hockey team hosted the No. 6 Queen's Gaels on Saturday afternoon at the Sun Life Financial Arena. The Gaels scored early in overtime to defeat the Hawks 4-3.
Queen's opened up the scoring in the first period with Alexandria Biglieri of Toronto, scoring her second goal of the season. Biglieri's goal was the only of the first frame.
Laurier leveled the scoring in what would be a wild second period while on the powerplay. Devon Skeats of Whitby, Ont., beat the goaltender for her sixth goal of the season. Queen's then scored a pair of goals just a minute apart to give them a 3-1 lead. Laurier responded late in the second period with Candice Styles of Orangeville, Ont., scoring her second goal of the season. Laurier then tied the game up again with OUA-leading scorer Skeats netting her second goal of the game, and seventh on the season. Skeats now leads the OUA in goals and she also added a helper on Styles' tally for a three-point game.
The third period was scoreless, sending the game to overtime. Two minutes into the extra period, Skeats took a hooking call sending the Gaels to the power play where Brittany McHaffie of Guelph, Ont., won the game for Queen's.
Source: Laurier Sports Info
York @ Western
The York University Lions women's hockey team faced action on the road this Saturday (Oct 27), dropping a 3-2 decision to the Western Mustangs in London, Ont.
The Lions allowed the Mustangs to pull ahead 3-0 before finally getting on the board, and they nearly completed the comeback attempt in the third period. But they were unable to find the equalizer before time expired.
The Mustangs were first to find the board, notching a goal at 11:52 of the first period off the stick of Natasha Panahi (Coquitlam, B.C.) with an assist from Samantha Nastasiuk (Barrie, Ont.). Despite outshooting the Mustangs 13-7 in the first period, the Lions went into the second trailing 1-0.
Western extended its lead early in the second period, notching a power play goal just over one minute in as Kendra Deller (London, Ont.) was able to beat Lions' goalie Megan Lee (Orillia, Ont.) off an assist from Cassidy Gosling (London, Ont.), increasing the Mustangs lead to two goals.
The Mustangs added another at 6:52 of the second period, with Carly Rolph (Guelph, Ont.) finding the back of the net with help from Brittany Clapham (Tottenham, Ont.), forcing a 3-0 lead before the Lions' were finally able to answer.
The first Lions goal came from Victoria Benacquista (Keswick, Ont.) at 11:23 of the second frame. Sarah Conway (Orillia, Ont.) was credited with the assist on Benacquista's second goal of the season as the Lions' sought to close the gap on the Mustangs.
An exciting late effort by Lion Kim Ramcharan (Brampton, Ont.) brought the Lions back within one with less than a minute remaining in the second period. Erin Cameron (Ajax, Ont.) and Lindsay Brook (Ste Rose du Lac, Man.) both earned assists on the last-minute goal, which came at 19:03 of the second period, setting up a tense final frame as the Lions trailed 3-2 going into the third.
Despite strong third-period offensive pressure from the Lions, they were unable to beat Mustangs' goalie Olivia Ross (Mississauga, Ont.). The Lions pulled Lee for the last minute and change of the final period, and came very close to tying the game and forcing an overtime period. Their best chance was off a backhand shot from leading scorer Lisa Stathopulos (Toronto) that sailed just wide of the top corner in the final minute of the game.
Despite outshooting the Mustangs fairly consistently over the course of the game, the strong play of Ross allowed the Mustangs to defend a narrow-margin victory with a collapsing defensive strategy. Ross made 30 saves on 32 shots in her winning effort, while Lee faced 26 shots and managed 23 saves.
The loss brings the Lions' record to just 2-4-1 for the season.
Source: York Sports Info
UOIT @ Windsor
The UOIT Ridgebacks women’s hockey team could not hold on to a two goal lead on the road as they were defeated by the Windsor Lancers 5-3 on Saturday.
UOIT led 3-1 midway through the second period, but Windsor stormed back with four unanswered goals to pick up their fifth win of the season.
The Ridgebacks and Lancers skated into the locker room tied 1-1 after twenty minutes, as UOIT captain Jill Morillo (Whitby, Ont.) scored her third goal of the season.
In the second period, UOIT starting goalie Cassie Charette (Ottawa, Ont.) was replaced by veteran Jessica Larabie (Whitby, Ont.) after suffering an undisclosed injury.
The Ridgebacks offence gave Larabie some support to start the period as they went up by two goals, with Jennifer Daly (Ajax, Ont.) and Violette Long (Oshawa, Ont.) scoring for UOIT. Jaclyn Gibson (Cobourg, Ont.) picked up assists on both goals.
Before the period ended, Windsor started the comeback notching two goals of their own, to tie the game up at 3-3.
In the final frame, Windsor would take a lead at the 10:30 minute mark as Candace Kourounis recorded her first goal of the year. Windsor would manage to add one more goal before time expired as they skated away with the 5-3 victory.
Source: UOIT Sports Info
Guelph @ Toronto
Nicole Kesteris posted 34 saves in leading the Varsity Blues women’s hockey team to a 2-1 shootout win over the No. 8 Guelph Gryphons on Saturday, October 27 at Varsity Arena.
The Blues continue their hot start to the season with their fourth straight victory. Their 6-1-1 record lifts them into a three-way tie with Queens and Laurier for first place in the OUA.
Stacey Oue (Scarborough, Ont.) had U of T’s lone goal in regulation time, while Callie Bazak (Peterborough, Ont.) scored the shootout winner. Taylor Day (Ilderton, Ont.) picked up the only assist on Oue’s goal. Day continues her impressive rookie season, and was named the game’s first star.
Kesteris added to her already remarkable 0.933 save percentage by making 34 saves and stopping every attempt in the shootout en route to the win.
Toronto’s special teams made a huge difference, as they went 1-for-3 on the powerplay, and killed off all five penalties.
Oue opened the scoring midway through the first on the man advantage. Oue capped off some excellent puck movement by the Blues when she one-timed a pass from Day and beat Guelph goaltender Brooke Siddall.
The Gryphons responded in the second period on a goal from Talia Paone. Kesteris made the initial save, but the Blues were unable to find the rebound, and the puck bounced to Paone who jammed it in the net.
Kesteris shone through the third and into overtime, making 17 saves to help get the game to a shootout. Leading OUA point-getter and Gryphons forward Amanda Parkins had several quality scoring chances but Kesteris was up to the task.
The teams traded scoring chances in overtime. Kesteris slid across to rob Christine Grant on a one-time opportunity, and Callie Bazak stole the puck at the Guelph blueline and raced in alone, but was denied by Siddall.
With the score still tied after the overtime period, the game went to a shootout, where Kesteris continued to stump the Gryphons shooters, stopping all three shots.
That set the stage for Bazak, who continued her clutch play during sudden death this season, and wired a slapshot top corner over Siddall’s glove to give the Blues the win.
Source: Toronto Sports Info
October 28 - Queen's @ Waterloo
The Queen's Gaels shut the Warriors out 3-0 on Sunday afternoon at the CIF arena to remain undefeated on the season with a 7-0-1 record. For the Warriors, the offensive struggles continued going their last seven periods without a goal and seeing their record drop to 1-5-2 on the season.
Karissa Savage (Calgary, Alta.) stopped all 19 shots faced to earn the shutout.
Morgan McHaffie (Guelph, Ont.) scored a power play goal for the Gaels at 15:25 with assists by Brittany McHaffie (Guelph, Ont.) and Alisha Sealey (Elora, Ont.). Katie Duncan (Kitchener, Ont.) added a second power play goal for Queen's in the last minute of the first period putting the Gaels up 2-0.
The second period was scoreless allowing the Gaels to carry their 2-0 lead into the third period. Courtenay Jacklin (Regina, Sask.) scored at 3:29 with assists by Sealy and McHaffie bringing the game to its final score of 3-0.
Rebecca Bouwhuis (Orillia) had 9 saves and Allie Mitchell (Niagara Falls) had 16 saves for the Warriors.
Source: Waterloo Sports Info
UOIT @ Western
After a win against York on Saturday, the Western Mustangs women’s hockey team hoped to keep the intensity high and get their second win of the weekend, facing off against the UOIT Ridgebacks on Sunday afternoon at Thompson Arena. After three well played periods and solid goaltending from Kelly Campbell, Western beat the UOIT Ridgebacks, 2-0.
The Mustangs had an opportunity to take the lead early on with a five-on-three power play in the opening minutes of the game, but the Ridgebacks were able to keep the Mustangs from taking the early lead. Despite killing off the the five-on-three UOIT would not be able to keep the Western scorers off the board in the first as Samantha Nastasiuk, with an assist from Carly Rolph, scored top shelf on the Ridgeback goalie Jessica Larabie. The Mustangs would take their hard fought 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
With two periods still to be played the Mustangs needed to keep their intensity up and the Mustangs defence kept the Ridgeback scorers from seizing key chances for the ridgebacks to even the score. The second period would remain 1-0 in Westerns favour, as both teams were unable to find success in their opponents end.
The third period opened up for Western shooters as they out shot the Ridgebacks 20-7. Sidney Kidd’s would find the back of the net with just under seven minutes left in the period on a slap shot from the point, giving the Mustangs their second and final goal off the game. Western would hold on for the remainder of the frame, taking home a 2-0 victory.
“The [power play units] didn’t score until the end, they had all kinds of chances,” said head Coach Chris Higgins following the game. “That’s all we can do, give them the puck. Their goalie played extremely well tonight.”
“We’ve been working on our conditioning all year,” said Higgins on the strength of the team in the final 20 minutes. “If we win the third period of every game, we will be in great shape by the end of the season.”
Source: Western Sports Info
Ryerson @ Guelph
The Gryphon women’s hockey team shutout the visiting Rams 3-0 this afternoon (Oct. 28) in a final minute thriller, at the Gryphon Centre.
The win advances the Gryphons to 5-2-1 and drops the Rams to 2-4-0 on the season.
The Gryphons got off to slow and shaky start, despite having an advantage on the ice for 10 full minutes of the first period. Guelph created several unsuccessful scoring attempts, outshooting their opponents 10 to six, but couldn’t score on the power play. The Rams did an exceptional job on the penalty kill, but were also unable to capitalize while on the power play.
Guelph began the second period with more energy and notched their first goal of the game at 1:37. Brittney Crawford quickly attacked the Rams net after winning a faceoff in Ryerson’s zone, and Averi Nooren (Aylmer, ON) smacked the rebounded puck into the back of the Ram’s net, advancing the score to 1-0. The Gryphons had finally found their groove and continued to show their dominance around the net outshooting their opponent’s seven to four.
The Gryphons continued to dominate play in the Rams zone early in the third period and marked their second goal of the game when Jenna Lanzarotta (Mississauga, ON) fed a behind-the-net pass to Kate Mora, who was positioned in front of the Rams goal, and scored. The Gryphons led 2-0 after two periods of play.
The final three minutes were the most exciting of the game, when the Rams had a two-man advantage over the Gryphons. The Gryphons successfully killed the first power play, but then the Rams pulled their goalie to take the six on four advantage, but their effort was in vain. Amanda Parkins (Kitchener, ON) beat her opponent to a puck that had been iced down into the Rams zone, and passed it Christine Grant (Mississauga, ON) who scored on the open net to win the game 3-0.
Brooke Siddle (Windsor, ON) earned the shutout for the Gryphons stopping 16 shots on net. Dana Carson (London, ON) went the distance for the Rams stopping 19 of 21 shots. Each team went 0/5 on the power play.
Source: Guelph Sports Info
York @ Windsor
The York University Lions women's hockey team continued its extended road trip this Sunday afternoon (Oct. 28), dropping a 6-2 decision to the Windsor Lancers in Windsor, Ont.
The Lancers sprung to an early lead in the first period, with Bree Polci (London, Ont.) scoring at 8:18 off of assists from Krysten Bortolotti (Belle River, Ont.) and Adalena Tridico (Windsor, Ont.). The Lancers added another goal on the power play off the stick of Courtney Spoors (Kingsville, Ont.) with assists from Jenny MacKnight (Regina) and Candice Chevalier (Essex, Ont.) at 15:02.
Despite being heavily outshot 20-8 in the first period, the predictably impressive play of Lions' goalie Megan Lee (Orillia, Ont.) allowed the Lions to trail by just the two goals going into the second period.
Windsor, however, looked to extend its lead in the second frame as Candace Kourounis (Markham, Ont.) beat Lee just 4:47 into the period. Jillian Rops (Sarnia, Ont.) and Lindsay Hoogstraten (St. George, Ont.) earned assists on the play.
Rops would later increase the Lancer lead to four, scoring at 12:15 of the second off of assists from Chevalier and Kiely Barnett (Newmarket, Ont.), which allowed the Lancers to take a 4-0 lead into the final period.
The Lions managed to put themselves on the board in the third period, as Megan Finlay (Hamilton, Ont.) finally solved Lancer goalie Karlyle Robinson (St. Catharines, Ont.) on the power play at 8:04 of the final frame. Kristen Barbara (Mount Hope, Ont.) and Sarai Whitty (Kingston, Ont.) assisted on Finlay's first goal of the season.
However, the Lancers quickly answered with a goal from Hoogstraten, her third of her season, with assists from Ally Strickland (Chatham, Ont.) and Bortolotti just one minute after Finlay's marker.
Leading York scorer Lisa Stathopulos (Toronto) put up a shorthanded goal to start closing the gap, scoring her fifth of the season at 14:26 of the period, with assists from Barbara, her second of the game, and team captain Chloe Milano (Maple, Ont.).
The recovery was short-lived as the Lancers answered again less than one minute later with Bortolotti scoring on assists from Polci and Strickland, marking the game's final goal.
Lee faced 54 shots in the matchup and made 48 saves, while Robinson made just 35 saves on 37 shots.
The loss brings the Lions' record to 2-5-1 on the season, while the Lancers improve to 6-2-0.
Source: York Sports Info
