WOMEN'S HOCKEY ROUNDUP: Guelph earns shooutout win over Laurier

York 4 @ Toronto 2

The No. 10 University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's hockey team fell 4-2 to the York Lions on Friday night (Jan. 10) at Varsity Arena.

With the loss, the Blues drop to 11-4-1, but remain in third place in the OUA standings. The Lions improve to 4-11-1 and move into a tie 12th place with the Brock Badgers.

The Lions opened the scoring midway through the first when Mariah Krancevich (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) banged home her own rebound on the powerplay, but the Blues bounced right back with a rebound goal from Courtney Brind'Amour-McClure (Waterdown, Ont.).

The Blues went ahead early in the second period when a centering puck went off the skate of Arden Cowley and into the net. York battled back late in the frame as Kristen Barbara jammed the puck into the side of the net. The Lions killed off a late 5-on-3 and the score remained deadlocked at 2-2 heading into the final frame.

York went ahead early in the third period when Krancevich received a pass to split the defencemen and slid the puck five hole for her second of the game.

The Blues had powerplay chances in the dying minutes of the third, but to no avail as the Lions added an empty-netter with 24 seconds to go to seal the win.

Blues netminder Nicole Kesteris made 23 saves, while Meghan Lee had 38 saves in the win.

Source: Toronto Sports Info

Saturday, January 11

Queen’s 2 @ York 1 (OT)

Shawna Griffin scored 3:11 into overtime to lead the No. 4 nationally-ranked Queen's Gaels to a 2-1 victory over the York University Lions at Canlan Ice Sports on Saturday night (Jan. 11).

Trailing by one late in the game, Lindsey Cochrane (Brampton, Ont.) supplied the lift the Lions needed in the third period, roofing a top-shelf snipe past goaltender Mel Dodd-Moher (Stittsville, Ont.) to even the score at a goal apiece midway through the final frame.

The Lions also came out firing in overtime, getting a few early chances on goal. But a turnover in the Lions' zone created a scoring opportunity for Queen's and Griffin (Redwood Meadows, Alta.) capitalized, wristing a filthy, bar-down shot on goal that York netminder Megan Lee (Orillia, Ont.) stood no chance of stopping.

With the loss, the Lions picked up one point and now sit at 4-11-2 on the season, tying them with Ryerson for 11thplace in the OUA standings. The Gaels, meanwhile, improved to 13-2-3 and increased their lead atop the conference. Despite the disparity in their records, the Lions have earned three of a possible four points against the Gaels this season.

Lee was sensational to open the game, stopping multiple early barrages by the Gaels and bestowing confidence in the rest of the team. Playing aggressively with the backend support, Rianna Langford (Collingwood, Ont.) jumped forward on the forecheck to strip a Queen's defender and generate a breakaway opportunity; but it would remain scoreless following the attempt.

Queen's generated an opportunity of its own late in the period, catching the Lions on an ill-timed change for an odd-man rush, but again Lee closed the door. Penalty trouble plagued both teams throughout the frame, and York headed into the second period on the advantage with the game still sitting scoreless.

Returning to the ice, the Gaels would finally solve Lee's stellar play when another costly turnover in the Lions' zone found its way back to the point and onto Alisha Sealey's (Elora, Ont.) stick. She would rifle a rocket shot past Lee to open up the scoring, giving Queen's a 1-0 lead.

A bouncing puck on a dump-in shot by the Gaels late would almost find its way into the back of the Lions net after being misplayed, but a solid backcheck eliminated the threat and generated a chance for the Lions going the other way. The score would remain 1-0 after the second, until Cochrane finally found the equalizer in the third.

Lee finished with 43 saves on 45 shots as the Gaels outshot the Lions in each period. Dodd-Moher faced just 24 shots and made 23 saves.

The Lions return to Canlan Ice Sports on Friday (Jan. 17) looking to continue their solid start to 2014 when they welcome the visiting Western Mustangs for a game beginning at 7pm.

Source: York Sports Info

Waterloo 0 @ Guelph 5

Guelph, Ont. (January 11, 2014)  – The Guelph Gryphons defeated the Waterloo Warriors in a 5-0 win at the Gryphon Centre in their first home game of 2014. After this game the Gryphons move to 12-3-0 and the Warriors fall to 6-7-3.

"We had a lot of jump in our practices after christmas and it showed in todays game. Compete level and execution was very good. Secondary scoring was a key to our success today," said head coach Rachel Flanagan.

The Gryphons outshot the Warriors 29-11 as Stephanie Nehring earned her fifth shutout of the season. Leading the Gryphons offense was rookie Marcie Landman with two goals. Other goal scorers were Rachel Cassidy, Amanda Parkins and Hillary Walsh.

The first period started out with back and forth action against the evenly matched teams. Each team was able to utilize their possession of the puck, coming up through the neutral zone, but both defenses were able to stop the opposing offenses. Guelph player Leigh Shilton had the first scoring opportunity of the game, crossing the blue line with speed, but was not able to outskate the opposing defensemen. Waterloo then took advantage of the Guelph turnover to take the puck back into Guelph territory, shooting from the crease. However, the game would remain scoreless, as the puck went off the iron and the Gryphons would take possession of the puck once again.

It would be Guelph player Rachael Cassidy to get on the board first for Guelph. Cassidy shot from the top of the crease hitting the stick of Warrior goalie, Rebecca Bouwhuis (Orillia, Ont.) but using the rebound to instead chip it up over the head of Bouwhuis making it 1-0 for the Gryphons at 17:12, with Kimberley Wong on the assist.

The Gryphons continued to dominate puck possession in the second period, outshooting the Warriors 10-2. The Gryphons used their speed to make it past Waterloo defense and to take advantage of the ample scoring opportunities. It was Jessica Pinkerton who found her way through the neutral zone, passing across the ice to Amanda Parkins who was ready to slap the puck into the net making it 2-0 for the Gryphons at 4:47, with Jessica Pellegrino also on the assist. Guelph would use their speed again later on in the second period to push their way past defenders in the neutral zone, with Cara Sayles feeding the puck to Marcie Landman who would make it 3-0 for the Gryphons at 11:39.

The Gryphons continued to control the game in the third period, scoring two more goals to make it 5-0 against the Warriors. The fourth goal of the game for the Gryphons would come after an around the net pass from Shilton, who chipped it over the Waterloo defenders to Hillary Walsh  who slapped it in from above the crease to make it 4-0 for Guelph at 8:48, with Michelle Sabourin also on the assist. Only 13 seconds later, Landman would score her second goal of the game straight out of the face off to make it 5-0, with Sabourin once again on the assist.

Source: Guelph Sports Info

Western 5 @ Nipissing 0

The Nipissing Lakers women’s hockey team is hoping to learn from their loss Saturday, but it’s more likely they would just rather forget the game entirely.

The Lakers were shutout 5-0 in their first game of 2014 by the Western Mustangs, who swept the season series, winning both games by a combined score of 8-2.Mustangs, who swept the season series, winning both games by a combined score of 8-2.

The Lakers managed just 14 shots in the game, and only four in the final period.

The Mustangs only fired 24 at the Lakers net, but were able to take advantage of their chances and scored three first period goals as they cruised to the win, chasing Sabrina Picard, Saturday’s start out of the game after three goals.

The Mustangs had five different goal scorers and led 2-0 less than four minutes into the game.

Jackie Rochefort was forced into the game and made 14 saves on 16 shots in relief.

The Lakers will look to rebound Sunday when they host the Windsor Lancers who defeated the Lakers 7-0 in their meeting earlier in the year.

Source: Nipissing Sports Information

Toronto 2 @ Ryerson 0

TORONTO - The Ryerson Rams women’s hockey team fell 2-0 to the Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre at the Gardens.

After a scoreless first period that featured a fast tempo, Toronto’s (12-4-1) Jacqueline Scheffel redirected a shot from the point by Sonja Weidenfelder on the powerplay to make it 1-0 just six minutes into the second frame.

After three two-on-one opportunities for Ryerson (5-12-0), it was Nicole Kesteris who absolutely shut the door on any offensive opportunities for the Rams throughout the second period and the entire game. Kesteris made 23 saves and earned her OUA leading fifth shutout of the season, which drew high praise from Ryerson interim head coach Pierre Alain post-game.

“She’s (Kesteris) is one of the best if not the best in the league, she’s tough to beat and we still have to work,” said Alain.

Weidenfelder would add an empty net goal to seal the victory.

Despite the good chances, putting the puck in the back of the net has proven to be a struggle for the Rams in 2014, as they have failed to score through their first two games of the new year.

Generating offence is something that Alain hopes to continue to improve on.

“We still have to work on it but yes we have to shoot under pressure, work down low, shoot from the blue line, screen the goalie.”

Alain feels as though with the close matchup tonight against No. 10 Toronto, that his team is back on track. One of the bright spots for his team on Saturday was the outstanding play of rookie goaltender Alex Armstrong (Toronto), who made 27 saves in the loss. It was Armstrong’s first start since Nov. 10, 2013 against the Queen’s Gaels.

With only seven games left in the regular season, Ryerson still sits five points out of a playoff position. They next take the ice on Jan. 17 when they travel to Waterloo, Ont. to face the No. 2 Laurier Golden Hawks at 7:30 p.m.

Source: Ryerson Sports Info

Windsor 5 @ Laurentian 2

The Laurentian Women’s hockey team was looking to open the New Year with a victory against the Windsor Lancers on Saturday night at the Countryside Arena in Sudbury. Despite a strong performance by goaltender Laura Deller, the Voyageurs were unable to hold back the Lancers offense. The Lancers took the game 5-1, handing the Voyageurs their first loss of 2014.

The Voyageurs opened the scoring at the 7:17 minute mark, when Samantha Morell scored her eighth of the season. The Lancers were quick to counter, and tied the game at 1 with a goal from Bree Polci. Neither team would score for the remainder of the period, and the teams would head into the first intermission tied at 1-1.

Coming out of intermission the Lancers picked up the level of intensity of their play. Jenny MacKnight would prove to be the most valuable player for her team in the second period, as she scored the go ahead goal for Windsor. Her goal was the only one for both teams during the second period, gave her team the upper hand on Laurentian heading into the third period.

MacKnight came out big early on in the third, putting a shot past Deller and scoring her second goal of the game shorthanded. The Voyageurs answered the goal in less than a minute, as Amanda Pereira got her third of the season, keeping her team within reach of the Lancers.

While the Voyageurs were able to put pressure on the Lancers, they were unable to keep up with their offense in the third period. Polci, scoring her second of the game and eighth of the season, put her team up 4-2 on the Voyageurs. The Voyageurs put in a great effort in the third, however they were unable to find the back of the net. The Lancers would score another goal on the power play later in the game, putting them up 5-2 in what would end up being the score to end the game.

Source: Laurentian Sports Information

Sunday, January 12

Windsor 7 @ Nipissing 1

It was a rough weekend for the Nipissing Lakers women’s hockey team as they were on the wrong end of two lopsided losses.

The Lakers hosted the Western Mustangs and Windsor Lancers, but managed only one goal and were shutout Saturday, losing 5-0 to the Mustangs and 7-1 to the Lancers.

In two games this season against the Lancers, the Lakers have been outscored 14-1 and the Mustangs outscored the Lakers 8-2 in their two meetings.

Sunday, the Lakers found themselves down 4-0 after the first period as they were outshot 10-4.

In the second period, after going down 5-0, the Lakers finally found the back of the net as Jade Gauthier scored her team-leading ninth goal of the season, but the Lancers would add two more in the third to cruise to the win.

Once again, the Lakers were forced to play both goalies, with Jackie Rochefort allowing four goals on 10 shots and Sabrina Picard surrendering three goals on 21 shots.

The Lakers look to bounce back from a tough weekend when they hit the road to play the Brock Badgers and Guelph Gryphons next weekend.

Source: Nipissing Sports Info

Laurier 1 @ Guelph 2

Guelph, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team defeated the Laurier Golden Hawks in a 2-1 shootout victory at the Gryphon Centre Sunday afternoon to finish the weekend sweep. After this game the Gryphons move to 13-3-0 and the Golden Hawks fall to 13-2-2.

Gryphon goalie Stephanie Nehring had an impressive game, facing an onslaught of shots from the Golden Hawk offense and saving 33 of the 34 shots on goal.

"Laurier is a very fast team and always tough to play against. Steph Nehring was instrumental in our win today coming up huge on a number of occasions to keep us in the game," said women's hockey head coach Rachel Flanagan.

The first period started out with both teams fighting to control possession of the puck. Both the Golden Hawks and the Gryphons were plagued with turnovers, and neither team was able to create a scoring opportunity. The Gryphons came close to a goal after a pass across the ice to the red line allowed Jessica Pinkerton to take a shot, but she wasn't able to make it past Laurier goalie, Amanda Smith (Burlington, Ont.).

Laurier won the next face off and took control of the puck with Dollee Meigs (Owen Sound, Ont.) coming around the net looking for an opening, but wasn't able to find one as Nehring smothered the puck and stopped play. Laurier dominated shooting for the rest of the period, out shooting the Gryphons 15-5.

The Gryphons started the second period on a power play after a tripping call on Devon Skeats (Whitby, Ont.) in the final minute of the first period, but were unable to capitalize on the man advantage. The Golden Hawks and the Gryphons would remain in a back and forth defensive battle throughout the second period, with opposing offenses being boxed out by the opposing defense. Guelph was able to even up the shooting however, matching the Golden Hawks 8-8 in the second period.

The Gryphons made a move in the third period after an interference penalty was called on Golden Hawk player Dollee Meigs at 2:50, giving them a man advantage. The Gryphons set up in front of the net and Kimberley Wong pass from the blue line set Amanda Parkins up with her shot from outside the crease that would deflect off Christine Grant for the goal and to make it 1-0 for Guelph. Laurier responded with their own goal tying it back up at 1-1 after a quick shot from inside the crease from Tammy Freiburger (Wingham, Ont.) at 11:16, with Robyn Degagne (North Bay, Ont.) and Jessica Prevette (Mississauga, Ont.) on the assists. The game remained tied for the rest of regulation, sending the game into overtime.

The evenly matched teams were unable to score in overtime after aggressive end-to-end action. The game would proceed into the shoot out where Jessica Pinkerton, the third shooter for the Gryphons was the lone player to score, handing the Gryphons the win. The Golden Hawks would out shoot the Gryphons 34-19.

The Guelph Gryphons hit the ice again on Saturday, January 18th against the Laurentian Voyageurs at the Gryphon Centre with the puck set to drop at 2:00 p.m.

Source: Guelph Sports Info

Western 5 @ Laurentian 4 (SO)

Following a tough loss Saturday night, the Laurentian Voyageurs women’s hockey team was looking to get back on track Sunday afternoon at Countryside Arena against the visiting Western Mustangs. Despite a strong first period, the Voyageurs were unable to hold on to their lead and fell to the Mustangs 5-4 in a shootout.

The Voyageurs took an early lead when forward Lauren Langille (Sudbury, ON) slipped one past Mustang goaltender Kelly Campbell (St. Thomas, ON) at the 3:17 mark. Laurentian continued to dominate in the first period, firing off 12 shots to Western’s six, and hit the back of the net for the second time in the 16th minute when Samantha Morell (Lombardy, ON) scored. The Voyageurs took this 2-0 lead into the first intermission.

The second period saw a re-energized and re-focused Mustangs team hit the ice, and it wasn’t long before Western’s Brianna Iazzolino (Thunder Bay, ON) sailed one past Laurentian’s Laura Deller (Woodstok, ON) on a power play. Though a minor injury caused by a collision in front of the Mustangs’ net forced a goalie change, with Olivia Ross (Huntsville, ON) coming in for Campbell, it was all Western throughout the second period. Relentlessly attacking Laurentian’s net, the Mustangs scored again in the final minute of the period when Ally Galloway (Kitchener, ON) was assisted by Tara Cation (Caledon, ON) to tie up the game. Having been outshot 19-1 in the period, the Voyageurs had given up their lead and headed into the final period with the score deadlocked at 2-2.

The third period was a back and forth affair, with both teams scrambling to take the lead. In the second minute Laurentian’s Morell scored her second goal of the game on a power play, but Western’s Cation was quick to respond with a goal of her own. With just over eight minutes remaining Voyageurs’ Julie Hebert (Chelmsford, ON) gave her team the lead yet again, scoring off Maggie Brennan’s (Ottawa, ON) assist. The Voyageurs battled hard for the remaining minutes of the game, and with less than a minute to go thought they were home free. In the final 16 seconds of the period however Western’s Cassidy Gosling (London, ON) scored a tying goal, sending the game into overtime.

Both teams buckled down defensively in the extra minutes. The score remained tied at 4-4, and only one shot was taken in the extra period. The game moved to a shootout, where Western went three for three as Galloway, Katelyn Gosling (London, ON), and Michelle Saunders (Oakville, ON) all bested Deller. Morell was unable to connect on her shot, and though Hebert’s shot was ruled a goal, it was not enough and Western walked away with the win, 5-4.

The Voyageurs will travel to Guelph Saturday, January 18 to take on the Gryphons and try to record their first win in 2014.

Source: Laurentian Sports Information

Waterloo 3 @ Brock 4 (SO)

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock University women's hockey team (5-10-1 OUA) defeated the Waterloo Warriors (6-7-4 OUA) 4-3 in shootout Sunday afternoon at the Seymour-Hannah Centre.

Waterloo opened the scoring 1:14 into the opening period as Amy Barnard beat Brock rookie goaltender Jenna Sosnoski (New Dundee, Ont.) for her third goal of the season.

Just over two minutes later at 3:39, Bailey Bradt and Rachel Marriott setup Kelly Toms to give the Warriors a 2-0 lead.

Brock would cut the lead in half at 6:03 of the first period as senior Leigh Vanderveen (NOTL, Ont.) buried it past Waterloo starter Rebecca Bouwhuis for her eighth goal of the campaign. Senior Jessica Fickel (Fort Erie, Ont.) and Ally Graham (Thamesford, Ont.) added the assists.

Waterloo regained the two-goal lead at 12:24 as Marriott and Redmond found Nicole Ballantyne who registered her second goal of the season.

The lone goal of the second period came at the 1:10 mark as Fickel setup senior Kaitie Phelan (Kitchener, Ont.) for the shorthanded goal, making it a one-goal game 3-2 at the end of 40 minutes.

Six minutes into the third period, Brock would tie the game 3-3 as rookie Victoria Chapman (Belleville, Ont.) recorded her first career OUA goal. Fickel registered her third assist of the game and moved into third all-time in career assists surpassing Briar Komenda (2003-07) (48).

After a scoreless overtime, the game would be decided after 10 shooters as sophomore Sarah Dolden (Brampton, Ont.) slid it past Bouwhuis for the game winner. This was the Badgers second straight shootout victory in 2014.

In goal, Sosnoski recorded 26 saves or the victory . Bouwhuis collected 43 saves in the loss.

The Badgers next action is January 18th vs Nipissing and January 19th vs Laurentian. Both games are scheduled for 3:15pm at the Seymour-Hannah Centre.

Source: Brock Sports Info