WOMEN'S HOCKEY ROUNDUP: Laurier needs overtime to get past Queen's, 4-3
Waterloo 1 @ Queen’s 3
The No. 5 Gaels never trailed in Friday night's 3-1 win over the Waterloo Warriors at the Memorial Centre.
Danielle Girard (Sarnia, Ont.) got the Gaels rolling on the powerplay, scoring the game's first goal in the final minute of the opening period from Courtenay Jacklin (Regina).
Midway through the second period, Nadia Larocca (Mississauga, Ont.) shoveled the puck into Waterloo's net with a scramble in front to give the Gaels a 2-0 lead, with Girard picking up an assist. The Warriors got one back before the second intermission with Morgan McHaffie (Guelph, Ont.) in the penalty box. Rachel Marriot scored the powerplay goal for Waterloo with eight minutes left in the second period. Waterloo hit the post in the dying seconds of the period, but the Gaels maintained their 2-1 lead to start the third.
In the final frame, Jacklin picked up her second point of the night, burying an insurance marker for Queen's in close.
Rebecca Bouwhuis was in goal for Waterloo, stopping 27 shots in the loss.
Caitlyn Lahonen (Sharon, Ont.) got the call for the Gaels, picking up the win with 21 saves.
McHaffie is sitting nine points back of Elizabeth Chiasson for the Gaels and OUA career points record with just five regular season games remaining.
Source: Queen's Sports Info
Saturday, January 25
UOIT 3 @ Nipissing 0
NORTH BAY, Ont. – The UOIT women’s hockey team played one of their most complete games of the season on Saturday afternoon as they earned a 3-0 road victory over the Nipissing Lakers.
UOIT goaltender Tori Campbell (Lethbridge, Alta.) made 17 saves including eight in the third period as she recorded her third career shutout. Campbell has been on fire in 2014 as she has not allowed a single goal in her past two starts. This season, she has a posted a 1.59 goals against average which ranks third among all OUA goaltenders and first among freshmen.
Jill Morillo (Whitby, Ont.) got the Ridgebacks on the board with a power play marker midway through the second period, as he scored her 11th goal of the season. Morillo is on a three-game scoring streak and ranks fourth in OUA goal scoring this year.
Sam Forchielli (Hamilton, Ont.) and Violette Long (Oshawa, Ont.) added some insurance for the Ridgebacks with a pair of goals in the third period. For Long, it was her first of the year.
Freshman Mikaeli Cavell (Edmonton, Alta.) picked up two assists in the game, extending her point-scoring streak to four games. With nine assists on the year, Cavell is second among all OUA freshmen.
In net for Nipissing was Jacqueline Rochefort, who made 23 saves in the losing effort. Rochefort gave the Ridgebacks fits in their first meeting this season back in November as she stopped all 42 UOIT shots in a 1-0 shutout victory. It looked like she was going to have a repeat performance on Saturday before Morillo finally got UOIT on the board.
The Ridgebacks (11-8-1) move into a three-way tie for fifth place in the OUA standings with Western (11-7-1) & Windsor (11-7-1), who had their game against one another postponed due to poor weather conditions.
Source: UOIT Sports Info
York 1 @ Laurentian 2
SUDBURY, ON - The Laurentian Voyageurs women's hockey team were victorious over the York Lions this afternoon by a 2-1 final score. This is the Voyageurs' 5th home win and their 7th win of the season extending their overall record to 7-13.
The Voyageurs came out firing on all cylinders in the first period with a flurry of early opportunities keeping the opposition, York Lions, pinned down in their own end. After an unsuccessful power play, the Voyageurs opened the scoring with a goal off the stick of Julie Hebert around the mid-way mark of the period. The final shots on goal in the first was 12-6 in favour of Laurentian, a statistic proving the Voyageurs' overall dominance in the first frame.
The Voyageurs failed to carry over the momentum they built up in the first period as they found themselves in some early penalty trouble. While they were able to kill off the odd man advantages, the Lions were able to tie it up late in the second period. Penalties aside, the second period saw very little action, as evidence by the 5-3 shot total in favour of the vising York team. After 2 periods the Voyageurs still led in shots, but their main objective for the third was to throw more pucks on net in order to break the deadlock.
The final period began and ended much like the first period, with a flurry of shots on net, 14 for Laurentian and 5 for York. The score remained tied up until just over the halfway point of the 3rd when Laurentian's Amanda Pereira found the back of the net putting the home team on top. The Voyageurs battened down defensively and with solid play from goaltender Laura Deller they were able to hold off the Lions and grab the win. The final shot total was 29-16 in favour of the home team Laurentian Voyageurs who played in front of an excited crowd of fans and students. Laurentian student and fan Mitch McCaughan summed up the victory with a quick line, "Awesome to see the big win, hope the W's keep on coming".
Source: Laurentian Sports Info
Brock 1 @ Toronto 2
The No. 10 University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's hockey team edged the Brock Badgers 2-1 in their annual Think Pink game on Saturday, January 25 at Varsity Arena.
With the win, the Blues improve to 15-4-1 and move into a three-way tie for first place prior to tonight's tilt between Laurier and Queen's.
The Blues opened the scoring two seconds after a Badgers penalty expired. Second-year forward Courtney Brind'Amour McClure tipped in a Stacey Oue point shot to notch her eighth of the season.
Toronto extended their lead to two just over three minutes later when Taylor Day pounced on a loose rebound and wired it past Brock's Jenna Sosnoski. U of T held the 2-0 lead after the first period.
The Badgers spoiled the shut out with 3:05 remaining in the game, but that was all they could muster as the Blues skated away with their fourth straight win.
Fourth-year netminder Nicole Kesteris made 15 saves in the win.
Source: Toronto Sports Info
Guelph 2 @ Ryerson 1 (SO)
TORONTO – The Ryerson Rams women’s hockey team fell just short of knocking off No. 3 Guelph as they fell 2-1 in the fifth round of an overtime shootout on Saturday evening. The Rams entered the game sitting in last place in the OUA but still managed to take a point from the CIS ranked Gryphons in this exciting overtime affair.
The first period saw Guelph break open the scoring with a Christine Grant (Mississauga, Ont.) goal 7:44 into the frame, putting Guelph up 1-0. The Gryphons continued to put the pressure on but stellar defence by the Rams held them to a single goal going into the first intermission.
Just over a minute into the second period, Clare Sabine (Sweaburg, Ont.) was issued a four minute penalty for checking to the head which saw the Gryphs head to the power play. Goalie Alex Armstrong (Toronto, Ont.) made a diving stop to keep the deficit at one but Ryerson was issued another penalty and found themselves killing off a two-man disadvantage for a minute. Managing to escape the 5-on-3 unscathed, Ryerson continued to play exceptional defence holding the Gryphons to a lone goal. They saw glimmers of offence throughout the period but were on the defensive for the majority of the frame.
With 26 seconds left in the period, Guelph was issued a four minute penalty for checking to the head, sending the Rams to the power play. At the end of 40 minutes, Guelph had fired 28 shots while Ryerson had mustered only seven but the score remained 1-0.
The Rams opened up the third period on the power play and wasted no time capitalizing on their man advantage as Emily Popelar (Toronto, Ont.) put one through the five hole to tie the game at 1-1. The Rams created several more scoring opportunities throughout the period but could not convert, and at the end of regulation, the game was still tied 1-1 and headed to five minute sudden death overtime.
The Rams continued to play outstanding defence with impressive back checking and saw Armstrong stop a breakaway and make an acrobatic kick save to keep her team alive. When overtime expired, she had tallied a career high 49 saves, the most of any Rams goaltender this season. With the score still knotted at ones, the teams prepared for a shootout to decide the fate of the game.
Armstrong denied the first four Guelph shooters until Leigh Shilton (Belleville, Ont.) put one top shelf to put Guelph ahead 2-1. Unable to score on their final opportunity, the Gryphons flooded the ice to celebrate the win. Although they may not have technically gotten the win, the game was indeed a victory for the Ryerson Rams.
“Our goalie was outstanding but we really worked around her also. She kept a lot of rebounds also and deflected pucks into the corner to make them work,” stated interim head coach Pierre Alain. “I’ve seen second, third and fourth efforts tonight, and back checking,” commented Alain.
Goaltender Armstrong added, “My preparation before the game helped me on the ice, and working with my team on and off the ice really helped. Our team played absolutely amazing today, they battled, they never gave up and because of that we had the opportunity to go into a shootout against not only an OUA top five, but a CIS ranked team.”
Guelph fired 50 shots on goal and went 0-for-3 on the power play, while Ryerson managed 16 shots and went 1-for-2 with the man advantage.
The Rams return to the ice on January 31st in London as they take on the Western Mustangs at 7:00 p.m.
Source: Ryerson Sports Info
Laurier 4 @ Queen’s 3 (OT)
KINGSTON, Ont. (January 25, 2014) - Laura Brooker picked up a hat-trick on the OT winner to give No. 4 Laurier the edge over No. 5 Queen's on Saturday night at the Memorial Centre.
Despite taking the only three penalties of the opening period, the Gaels headed into the first intermission with a 2-0 lead on goals from Jessica Wakefield (Lucan, Ont.) andMorgan McHaffie (Guelph, Ont.). Laurier stormed back to start the second however, with Brooker netting two goals in the first minute of the period to tie the game. The Gaels regained the lead with five minutes to play in the second period on an acrobatic diving effort from Shawna Griffin (Redwood Meadows, Alta.).
Laurier got the only goal of the third off the stick of Devon Skeats to tie the game and send it to overtime. Brooker ended the game on a breakaway, banking the puck off a Gaels' player and in.
The Gaels were outshot in every period, but Mel Dodd-Moher (Stittsville, Ont.) kept Queen's in it, making 30 saves in the loss.
Amanda Smith got the win in goal for Laurier with 15 saves.
Marlee Fisher (Kingston, Ont.), McHaffie, and Dodd-Moher were honoured before the game as graduating members of team.
With a goal and an assist on Wakefield's goal, McHaffie moves within seven points of Elizabeth Chiasson's Queen's and OUA point record.
Saturday's OT loss to Laurier was the Gaels final home game of the regular season. Queen's is back in action on the road next Friday at Brock and Saturday at No. 3 Guelph.
Source: Queen's Sports Info
Sunday, January 26
Guelph 3 @ Toronto 1
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's hockey team fell 3-1 to the visiting Guelph Gryphons Sunday January 26 at Varsity Arena.
The loss snaps the Blues four game winning streak and allows Guelph to vault past them for third place in the OUA standings. The Blues now sit fourth with 31 points on the season.
Taylor Day registered Toronto's lone goal. It was the Ilderton, Ont. native's 11th goal of the season, which leads the team in that category. Third-year winger Sonja Weidenfelder (Toronto) picked up the only assist on Day's tally.
Blues goaltender Nicole Kesteris (Aurora, Ont.) made 22 saves. She came into the game with a CIS-leading .950 save percentage.
The Blues came out strong, outshooting the Gryphons 12-7 in the first period. However, several defensive miscues opened the door for Guelph who scored all three goals on breakaways.
The Gryphons opened the scoring on a harmless-seeming play when Cara Sayles split the Blues defenseman and raced in on the Gryphons first breakaway of the night, beating Kesteris on a forehand-backhand move.
Averi Nooren then increased the lead to 2-0, stealing the puck at her own blue line, and breaking in alone before roofing the puck over Kesteris' glovehand.
The Blues would respond just 15 seconds later, on Day's 11th goal of the season. The sophomore standout stole the puck on the forecheck and threw it to the front of the net where it pin-balled off multiple bodies and snuck past Gryphons goaltender Stephanie Nehring to cut the lead to 2-1.
The two teams continued to trade chances in the second, with Kesteris making several saves to keep her team in it until OUA-leading goal scorer Jessica Pinkerton finally broke through for the Gryphons.
With seven minutes gone in the period, Pinkerton received a breakaway pass and fought off a Blues defender to beat Kesteris and restore the two goal lead.
The Blues pressed hard to even the score in the third period, firing a game-high 13 shots in the final frame to give them 31 shots in total, but Nehring hung on to give the Gryphons a 3-1 win.
The Blues will return to action this Friday January 31 when they travel to Windsor to take on the Lancers. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Source: Toronto Sports Info
York 3 @ Nipissing 2
It was another tough weekend for the Nipissing Lakers women’s hockey team, as they found a way to score, but weren’t able to earn a win.
The Lakers, a day after being shutout by UOIT, dropped a 3-2 decision to the York Lions Sunday afternoon.
On Saturday, with just 15 skaters dressed, the Lakers couldn’t muster up any offence and were blanked by UOIT, a team they shutout earlier in the season.
After the teams played a scoreless first period, the Ridgebacks broke the deadlock with a goal about midway through the second period.
It turned out to be the winner, as they would add two more in the final frame and cruise to a 3-0 victory.
The Lakers have struggled offensively in the second half of the season, and Saturday’s game was another example, as they managed just 17 shots on goal.
Jackie Rochefort made 23 saves for the Lakers in a losing cause.
On Sunday, the Lakers managed to find the back of the net, but couldn’t secure the win.
Brooklyn Irwin and Brittany Cosmo score for the Lakers who opened up the scoring early, but the lone goal of the third period gave the Lions the victory.
The Lakers fired 24 shots at the Lions net; including outshooting the Lions 8-4 in the third period, but couldn’t ripple the twine to earn the win.
The Lakers are back in action next weekend when they travel to Laurier and Waterloo.
Source: Nipissing Sports Info
UOIT 5 @ Laurentian 1
The Laurentian Voyageurs women’s hockey team lost 5-1to UOIT this afternoon at Countryside arena in a penalty filled affair. The Women entered fresh off the heels of their win yesterday over York; however they were unable to carry that same momentum into this game. The Voyageur’s now sit with a 7-14 record on the season.
It was a quiet and slow start for the Voyageur’s who quickly found themselves in a hole due to early first period goals by the Ridgeback’s Melissa Berney and Victoria MacKenzie. Later in the first frame, the Voyageur’s found themselves in some penalty trouble leading to a third Ridgebacks goal scored on the power play. The shot total after 20 minutes was a minuscule 8-5 in favour of the visiting team from UOIT.
After a poor first period the Voyageur’s knew that they needed to come out flying in order to keep the game from getting out of reach. On an early power play Laurentian was able to cut the deficit to 2 with a big goal from Samantha Forchielli. The goal spurred the team as they looked to edge closer, however after finding themselves shorthanded for much of the period, a late UOIT goal took the steam out of the Laurentian women. The shots remained in favour of UOIT after 2 periods, 18-11 and Voyageurs entered the intermission behind by 3 with little momentum.
The Voyageur’s came out with a little more pep in the 3rd period as they drummed up some chances in the UOIT zone. However penalties came back to hurt the Voyageur’s again as they gave up an early power play goal on a 5-on-3 man advantage. Aside from a few late shots, the Voyageur’s were unable to find the back of the net and tighten up the game. The final shot totals in the 3rd were 8-3 in favour of Laurentian, bringing the final shot total to 21-19 for the UOIT Ridgebacks.
The women now face Laurier in Waterloo on February 1st at 7:30pm.
Source: Laurentian Sports Info