Defending CIS champions Mustangs fall to Huskies at CIS women’s hockey championship

CALGARY (CIS) - There will be a new national champion in 2016 after the Western University Mustangs fell 1-0 to the Saint Mary's University Huskies in the third quarter-final of the CIS Women's Hockey Championships on Friday, March 18.

With the win, Saint Mary's advances to Saturday's semifinal, with opponent to be determined in the fourth quarter-final that is set to be played at 7 p.m. Friday evening. The semifinal will take place at 2:30 p.m. MT on Saturday, March 19 and will be broadcast on SportsnetOne. Western will face the loser of the fourth quarter-finalin the consolation semifinal Saturday, March 19 at 10 a.m. MT. Both games are available live on the web at www.cis-sic.tv.

After winning the national title in 2015 in just its first appearance at the national tournament, Western fails to advance past the first round. The AUS-winning Saint Mary's Huskies are in their first national championship since 2010, the first since the program was reinstated in Halifax. The Huskies finished fourth in 2010 after losing to Laurier in the bronze medal game.

"It feels good anytime you come to the rink and leave with a win. We knew knocking off the reigning champs would be a great way to start the weekend," said Huskies head coach Chris Larade. "I am proud of what the girls have accomplished so far. Five years ago to this day they had cut the Saint Mary's program, we're living for the moment. It was great to be able to draw on that was great."

The Huskies were led by fourth-year forward Caitlyn Schell, who notched the only goal of the game. Shots were even through three periods for both teams at 26, and both teams had trouble solving the other's goaltender – but it would be Rebecca Clark who stood tall for the Huskies, stopping all 26 shots fired her way.

While both teams had severalopportunities to take the lead on the power play, it wasn't until the third period that Saint Mary's got on the board. Schell beat a Mustang defender before firing a low wrist shot past Western's Kelly Campbell.

The Mustangs' best chance to get the equalizer came midway through the third period with an extended 5-on-3 power play for a minute and 44 seconds. Despite extended pressure and a couple quality opportunities, Clark and the Huskies shut the door and held on for the victory.

"It's a challenge just to get here," explained Western head coach David Barrett. "I am very proud of the girls for getting here and the effort they put in today. It's a fine line between winning and losing and we recognize, even last year how fortunate we were to win. Up until the end, you have to believe you are going to win. We need to mourn the loss for a bit, which is okay and then later today we'll talk about tomorrow."

Katelyn Gosling received the player of the game for the Mustangs, while Huskies forward Schell was awarded the player of the game for her game-winning goal.

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST PERIOD

PENALTIES:

Manning (SMU) interference, 11:32;
Broad (WES) tripping, 17:39.

SECOND PERIOD

PENALTIES:

Gosiling (WES) tripping, 5:10;
Schell (SMU) hooking, 8:04;

Levesque (WES) tripping, 15:50.

THIRD PERIOD

1. SMU Caitlyn Schell (1) (Kiana Wilkinson), 0:29

PENALTIES:

Harrietha(SMU) tripping, 0:54;
Gosling (WES) interference, 8:28;
Manning (SMU) holding opponents stick,11:23;
Clark (SMU) roughing, 11:39;

Kipfer (WES) unsportsmanlike conduct, 15:24.

GOALS (by period)
WES 0-0-0: 0
SMU 0-0-1: 1

SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
WES 5-8-13: 26
SMU 9-9-8: 26

POWER PLAY:
WES 0-5
SMU 0-5

GOALTENDERS
WES – Kelly Campbell (L, 0-1, 26 shots, 25 saves, 1 GA, 57:49)
SMU – Rebecca Clark (W, 1-0, 26 shots, 26 saves, 0 GA, 60:00)

PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
WES: Katelyn Gosling
SMU: Caitlyn Schell

ATTENDANCE: 302
REFEREE: Vanessa Morin
LINESMEN: Jacquie Fitz, Krista Funke

START: 3:02
END: 5:15
LENGTH: 2:13

SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times MOUNTAIN TIME)

Thursday,March 17
11:00 Quarter-final 1: Guelph 3, St. Thomas 0
15:00 Quarter-final 2: UBC 4, McGill 2

Friday, March 18
11:00 Consolation 1: St. Thomas 2, McGill 1
15:00 Quarter-final 3: Saint Mary's 1 Western 0
19:00 Quarter-final 4: No. 7 Calgary vs. No. 2 Montreal (www.CIS-SIC.tv)

Saturday, March 19
10:00 Consolation 2: Wester vs. Loser QF 4 (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
14:00 Semifinal 1: Guelph vs. UBC (Sportsnet ONE / www.CIS-SIC.tv) *
17:30 Semifinal 2: Saint Mary's vs. Winner QF 4 (Sportsnet ONE / www.CIS-SIC.tv) *

Sunday, March 20
8:45 Bronze (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
9:00 5th-place game (www.CIS-SIC.tv) (at Joan Snyder Arena)
12:30 Final (Sportsnet 360 & TVA Sports 2 / www.CIS-SIC.tv) *

Webcast of the semifinals & final are on pay-per-view basis.