W-HOCKEY ROUNDUP: Varsity Blues upset No. 5 Queen's Gaels 2-1
Friday, January 9
Queen's 4 @ Ryerson 0
TORONTO - The Ryerson Rams (7-8-0) suffered a tough 4-0 loss Friday against the No. 5 Queens Gaels (11-2-2) at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Coming off a 3-1 victory last night against the UOIT Ridgebacks, the Rams came unprepared to face a CIS ranked team, allowing three goals in the first period and a shot count of 24-10 in favour of the Gaels. Queens centre Shawna Griffin would quickly complete her hat trick early in the second, with help from linemate Clare McKellar, who had two assists in the game.
Despite the one-sided final score and a first period worth forgetting, the game turned around midway through the second as Ryerson began closing the shot count gap.
"Unfortunately the game was decided in the first period," said head coach Lisa Haley following the loss. "[But] over the last two periods, I thought we were the better team."
Ryerson wouldn't allow another goal against, but unfortunately they couldn't solve Gaels goalie Stephanie Pascal, who stopped all 39 shots she faced. Rams goalie Alex Armstrong (Toronto, Ont.) stopped 36 shots in the game.
"We tried our hardest to get back into the game," said Haley. "We threw everything at them but the kitchen sink."
The Rams will have a week of practice before they hit the road on Friday when they travel to St. Catherines to face the Brock Badgers.
Source: Ryerson Rams
UOIT 0 @ Toronto 1
Fourth-year forward Sonja Weidenfelder scored the lone goal of the game and Nicole Kesteris earned the shut out as the University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's hockey team defeated the UOIT Ridgebacks 1-0 on Friday, January 9 at Varsity Arena.
With the win, U of T improves to 9-3-2 and moves into a tie for fourth place with the Guelph Gryphons. The Ridgebacks drop to 5-10-1 on the season.
Teams go through an entire season without seeing a penalty shot, but Friday's contest featured three of them. Ridgeback goaltender Cassie Charette turned aside two Toronto attempts, while Kesteris stopped Nicole LoPresti's penalty shot in the third period.
With 9:06 remaining in the game, Weidenfelder skated out from the corner and wired the puck into the top corner of the net for the game-winner.
Kesteris made 18 saves in the victory.
The Blues play their next game at home tomorrow night at the Varsity Arena as they host the Queen's Gaels at 7:30p.m. The game will be streamed live on OUA.tv.
Source: Toronto Varsity Blues
York 0 @ Laurier 6
WATERLOO, Ont. (January 9, 2015) – The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women's hockey team used a three goal outburst in a minute and 36 seconds midway through the second period to help them cruise to a 6-0 win over the York Lions on Friday night.
After the two teams remained deadlocked at 0-0 through the first 30 minutes of the game, Laurier got three quick goals from Blair Connelly of Amherstburg, Ont., Dollee Meigs of Owen Sound, Ont., and Megan Howe of Stratford, Ont., to take control of the contest.
Jessie Hurrell of Palgrave, Ont., added a goal late in the second period to stake the purple and gold to a 4-0 lead.
Laurier would ice the game in the third as Tammy Freiburger of Wingham, Ont., scored a pair of empty net goals, including one with 12 and a half minutes remaining in the game, to secure the victory.
Goaltender Amanda Smith of Burlington, Ont., recorded the shutout victory as she stopped all 31 shots fired her way by the Lions. For Smith, it was her second shutout of the year with both coming against York. She stopped 26 shots in Laurier's 2-0 win over the Lions back on October 25, 2014.
Four Hawks finished the contest with multiple points led by Freiburger, who added an assist for her first three-point game of the season. Connelly, Hurrell and Howe also picked up assists to finish the night with two points each.
Megan Lee of Orillia, Ont., took the loss for the Lions as she allowed four goals on 23 shots.
The win was crucial for the Hawks as Laurier and York entered the day separated by just one point in the OUA standings. With the win, the purple and gold move to 8-4-3 on the year while York falls to 7-6-2. Laurier now holds a three-point edge on the Lions for sixth place in the OUA while the Hawks trail fourth place Guelph and Toronto by just one point.
The Golden Hawks will now have more than a week off between games before heading up north for a road trip to North Bay and Sudbury next weekend. Laurier returns to the ice on Saturday, January 17 when they face the Nipissing Lakers before rounding out the weekend on Sunday, January 18 against the Laurentian Voyageurs.
Source: Laurier Golden Hawks
Laurentian 4 @ Windsor 5
The Lancer women's hockey team opened 2015 with a hard earned 5-4 win over the visiting Laurentian Voyageurs in a shoot-out on Friday night at South Windsor Arena.
With the win, the Lancers are 10-2-3 on the season heading into Saturday night's contest against the Nipissing Lakers.
It was Laurentian who got on the score sheet first, as Nicole Vigilanti put one past Windsor goaltender Marissa Kozovski five minutes into play to put them up 1-0. The Lancers tied it up late in the first on the powerplay, as Jenny MacKnight made an up ice pass to spring a breakaway for Candice Chevalier, where she made no mistake.
In the second period, the Lancers went to the powerplay again and Adelena Tridico notched her first of the season from the blue line, with assists from Natalie Barette and Jillian Rops to give the Lancers a 2-1 lead.
Windsor struck again as Tridico found an open Krystin Lawrence in front of the net to make the score 3-1. The Voyaguers battled back to narrow the score to 3-2 going into the third period with a goal from Jessica Staats.
Laurentian came out strong in the final period as Samantha Morell scored just over two minutes in to tie the score at 3 apiece. The Lance's kept battling, and it was MacKnight who found the back of the net to give the Lancers the 4-3 lead. However, on a defensive breakdown, the Lancers let Ellery Veerman in alone shorthanded, where she put one between the legs of Kozovski to tie the game 4-4.
The 4-on-4 overtime saw many chances for the Lancers as they were sent to the powerplay, but Laurentian goaltender Emily Toffoli turned away every shot, sending the game into a shootout.
It was MacKnight who launched the shootout winner with a beautiful move placing the puck over the shoulder of Toffoli.
Windsor will host the Nipissing Lakers (7-6-1) Saturday night at 7:30pm at South Windsor Arena.
Source: Windsor Lancers
Saturday, January 10
Laurentian 1 @ Western 3
LONDON, Ont. – The Mustangs women's hockey team opened up the second half of their OUA regular season action with a win on Saturday evening as they downed the Laurentian Voyageurs 3-1 at Thompson Arena.
With the win the Mustangs continue to maintain their spot atop the OUA standings with a record of 13-0-2, while the Voyageurs now hold a 2-10-3 on the season so far.
"I thought our first period was a bit sluggish but I thought as the game went on we got progressively stronger," said Mustangs head coach Chris Higgins of his team's performance on the night.
Saturday's contest was a match that saw both teams concentrate the majority of their crowd pleasing and nail-biting moments until late in each of the three periods played.
The Voyageurs were able to outshoot the Mustangs five-to-three in the first period but were unable to capitalize on their opportunities before the Mustang's Brianna Lazzolino put the puck past Voyageur goaltender Laura Dellar with only five seconds left in the frame. With the late goal the Mustangs took the one-point advantage heading into the first intermission.
Despite being down by one the Voyageurs continued to battle hard in an attempt to cut the Mustangs lead, but their efforts were halted by a strong purple and white offense that outshot the Voyageurs ten-to-seven.
The Mustangs were able to extend their advantage midway through the period when team points leader Kendra Broad put her name onto the scoresheet with her tenth goal of the season to put the Mustangs up 2-0.
If the Voyageurs were caught off guard by the Mustangs late first period goal, they went into the locker room in the second intermission with a sense of déjà vu as Mustang Sydney Kidd found the back of Dellar's net with only 31 seconds left in the period to further the Mustangs lead 3-0.
Although the Mustangs controlled the scoreboard the Voyageurs came into the third period determined to cut the purple and white lead, and they were able to do just that with just over a minute left in the period as Amanda Pereira found the back of Campbell's net on a Laurentian power play.
The Voyageurs then pumped up their intensity in the final minute of the game and a string of Mustang penalties left Campbell the target of a strong six-on-three power play attack by the Voyageurs.
When asked if Mustangs head coach Higgins was nervous behind the bench in the final moments of the contest he responded, "not with Kelly in net," and rightfully so, as Campbell stayed strong between the posts and held the scoreboard 3-1.
The Mustangs will be back in action on Sunday, January 11 when they face off against the Nipissing Lakers at 4:00 pm at Thompson Arena.
Source: Western Mustangs
Queens 1 @ Toronto 2
Fourth-year defenceman April Looije scored the game-winning goal with one minute remaining in overtime as the University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's hockey team defeated the No. 5 Queen's Gaels 2-1 on Saturday night (Jan. 10) at Varsity Arena.
Looije snuck into the zone and received a nice pass from veteran forward Amanda Ricker. A Mississauga native, Looije made no mistake, deking around Gaels goalie Caitlyn Lahonen to find the back of the net.
With the win, the Blues improve to 10-3-2 and move into sole possession of fourth place in the OUA standings. The Gaels drop to 11-2-3 and remain in second.
The Gaels held the momentum in the first period, registering a few good chances to score. Blues netminder Nicole Kesteris made 11 saves in the opening 20 minutes as the two teams remained deadlocked at the first intermission.
Fourth-year forward Jacqueline Scheffel had two opportunities to get the Blues on the board in the second. Midway through the period she nearly banged in a Rebecca Bourgeois point shot rebound, but Lahonen was there to make the stop. Then, four minutes later, she had a clear lane to the net, but her shot rang off the post.
Queen's finally opened the scoring late in the second period when Taryn Pilon fed rookie Addi Halladay a pass on a 2-on-1 and she made no mistake finding the back of the net. The Gaels were up 1-0 heading into the final frame.
Things were looking grim for the Blues until third-year forward Taylor Day broke free in the high slot and came up with an amazing deke to beat a Gaels defender and Lahonen to even the score with 4:50 to go in regulation.
Kesteris made 34 saves in the win.
The Varsity Blues return to action this Thursday, January 15 as they travel to Guelph, Ont., for a tilt with the No. 6 Gryphons. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.
Source: Toronto Varsity Blues
Nipissing 4 @ Windsor 3 (SO)
After defeating Laurentian last night in a shootout, the Lancer women's hockey team found themselves on the losing ends of Saturday night's shootout against the Nipissing Lakers.
Windsor fell 4-3 to the visiting Lakers and move to 10-2-4 on the year and remain in third place in the OUA standings. Nipissing improves to 8-6-1 with the victory.
The Lancers scored the lone goal in the first period as Jenny MacKnight found Krystin Lawrence in the slot, where she beat Nipissing goaltender Jackie Rochefort to put the Lancers up 1-0.
The second period was high scoring and saw both teams score two each. Nipissing's Kaley Tienhaara scored first to tie the game at 1-1.
Windsor then scored back to back powerplay goals, as Kayla Dodson blasted one from the point, and Jillian Rops tapped in another in front of the net, putting Windsor up by two, 3-1.
With only 45 seconds remaining in the second period, Tienhaara scored her second of the night for Nipissing to narrow Windsor's lead to one going into the final period.
The Lakers quickly evened the score in the third period as Sam Strassburger slid one past Marissa Kozovski only 31 seconds into the period. Neither team was able to capitalize on the numerous power plays in the third period, which sent the game into overtime.
With both goalies denying all chances in overtime, the Lancers were forced to decide their second straight game in a shootout.
No shooters scored for Windsor, but Kayla Carter beat Kozovski to claim the victory for the Nipissing Lakers.
Windsor returns to the ice next Saturday afternoon when they host the Western Mustangs at 4:00pm at South Windsor Arena.
Source: Windsor Lancers
Sunday, January 11
Guelph 4 @ Brock 0
The Brock Badgers women's hockey team (1-10-3) opened 2015 with a 4-0 shutout loss to the Guelph Gryphons (10-2-2).
The Gryphons opened a 2-0 first period on a goals scored 43 seconds apart by fifth year forward Kaitlyn Mora.
Kaitlyn Lowy would score the lone goal of the second period, while Kelly Gribbons rounded out the scoring with exactly one minute to play in the third.
Stephanie Nehring made 18 saves to record the shutout for Guelph.
Stephanie Loukes turned aside 35 shots between the pipes for the Badgers who went 0-for-1 on the powerplay.
Brock now welcomes the Ryerson Rams Friday night. Game time at the Seymour-Hannah Centre is 7:15 pm.
Source: Brock Badgers
Nipissing 2 @ Western 3 (SO)
LONDON, Ont. – The Mustangs women's hockey team added their second consecutive victory in their first weekend back from the mid-season break with a 3-2 shootout win over the Nipissing Lakers at Thompson Arena on Sunday afternoon.
"[The Laker's] are a very strong team. They are in the middle of the league but I think they are one of the top four teams in the league," said Mustangs head coach Chris Higgins, while also adding "I thought our team played very, very well today. I give them a lot of credit."
With the win, the Mustangs continue to hold the top spot in the OUA standings with a record of 14-0-2, while the loss for the Lakers now gives the team a 8-6-2 record on the season so far.
After a scoreless first period that saw the Mustangs outshoot the Lakers seven-to-three, the second period certainly proved that this contest would be anything but boring as the Lakers came out onto the ice determined to take control of the play with a highly aggressive mindset.
Just over five minutes into the action, the Lakers found themselves with three players in the penalty box allowing the purple and white to dominate the ice and capitalize on the advantage when Kendra Broad found the back of Lakers goaltender Jacqueline Rochefort's net to put the Mustangs up 1-0.
Despite efforts to respond to the Mustangs lead, the Lakers physicality on the ice kept them at a disadvantage with penalties for a large part of the play. Less than two minutes after Broad, Mustang Sydney Kidd would capatalize on the power play and net another goal for the purple and white.
Although the Mustangs tried to keep their composure against the aggressive Lakers, the Mustangs also found themselves in the penalty box for a total of ten minutes in the second period.
The Lakers used these opportunities to recover from the Mustangs advantage as Kaley Tienhaara and Sam Strassburger added two power play goals to the scoreboard at 11:47 and 17:39 respectively.
Tied up at 2-2 going into the third frame, both teams fought hard to try and take the upper hand before the clock ran out. But their efforts were of no avail as the contest headed into overtime with an even score.
With a scoreless overtime period the match would be decided by a shootout round where Kelly Campbell proved once again why she is the best goaltender in the league. Campbell stopped all three of the Laker's shots to largely contribute to the purple and white victory.
With Campbell holding the goal line Katelyn Gosling netted the first shootout goal of the game, and the only goal the Mustangs needed to bring home the victory.
The Mustangs will be back in action on Saturday, January 17 as they travel west to face-off against the Windsor Lancers. Puck drop is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Source: Western Mustangs
York 6 @ Waterloo 3
The York University Lions women's hockey team emerged as winners in a thrilling win over the Waterloo Warriors on Sunday (Jan. 11) in Waterloo, Ont. The Lions scored five straight goals to turn a 3-1 deficit into a big 6-3 victory.
The Lions recorded their first win of the new year thanks to inspiring performances by Sarai Whitty (Kingston, Ont.) and Kristen Barbara (Mount Hope, Ont.).
Whitty drew first blood through a power play after just five minutes of the first period. Barbara passed to Lisa Stathopulos (Toronto), who made a long pass to the opposite wing towards Whitty. The veteran forward then released a shot that deflected off the crossbar and into the net for the first goal of the game.
The Warriors responded with two goals of their own in the same period. Angela MacDonald scored the equalizer at 8:51 with assists from Rebecca Rutherford and Siobhan Hewitt-Kenda. The home players rushed forward rapidly, catching the Lions' defence off-guard. MacDonald tucked in the goal clinically from an excellent team play.
Marissa Redmond scored a solo goal at 16:12. Redmond intercepted a pass from behind the Lions' net and slid in the puck to give the Warriors a 2-1 lead before the intermission.
After the break, the Warriors extended their lead to 3-1 through a goal by Hewitt-Kenda at 6:47. Redmond and Bailey Bradt were credited with the assists.
At 12:15, Amy Locke (Toronto) pushed the Lions back into the game as the Warriors failed to clear a dangerous attempt by Rianna Langford (Collingwood, Ont.). The tipped shot was rebounded by Stathopulos, who centred the puck for Locke to finish.
The floodgates opened when Whitty scored her second of the game at 2:41 of the final period for the visiting team's dramatic equalizer. Justine Treadwell (Huntsville, Ont.) made a vital tackle to stop the Warriors' attacking play. Stephanie Dovaston (Unionville, Ont.) merged forward with Whitty from their own court. Dovaston showed good skill skating past defenders before sending the puck to the middle for Whitty to drive home. Dovaston and Treadwell were credited with assisting the goal.
Tonisha Maisonneuve (North Bay, Ont.) tapped in a pass from Locke from behind the opposition's net for the Lions' winner. Langford was also involved in the play.
At 9:46, Stathopulos scored the Lions' fifth goal with the support of Barbara's pass. Stathopulos surged forward to go one-on-one with Stephanie Sluys before sliding the puck between the goalie's legs and into the net. The experienced forward is currently the top scorer in the OUA with 13 goals this season.
Barbara made an outstanding long shot attempt from her own ice towards the empty net. The puck slid past the defenders who couldn't stop it from going in. The goal stamped the Lions' amazing comeback over a strong Warriors squad.
The Lions will face a tough challenge against the No. 5 nationally-ranked Queen's Gaels at Canlan Ice Sports on Saturday (Jan. 17) at 2pm.
Source: York Lions
