OSHAWA, Ont. - The UOIT Ridgebacks women's hockey team earned a hard fought 3-1 home victory over the visiting Toronto Varsity Blues on Friday afternoon at the Campus Ice Centre.
With an 11:30 a.m. puck drop to facilitate the Ridgebacks second school day of the semester, welcoming local elementary school students to the Dog Pound, UOIT rebounded from a slow start to score three consecutive goals in the mid-day victory.
"I think early on we were sitting back a little bit in the first, but as the period went on we really found our legs," said Ridgebacks head coach
Justin Caruana. "It's a bit of a different day with the early start, routines need to change, but by the end of the first period we were able to get back to our game."
The Ridgebacks were out shot in the opening frame, 12-6, resulting in the Varsity Blues scoring in the first five minutes of the contest. However, UOIT found a spark following several saves from starting goaltender
Brooke Vial (Port Moody, B.C.). Strong defensive zone adjustments led to opportunities on the other end where the Ridgebacks grabbed the lead back before the end of the opening frame following two goals in two minutes. An insurance power play marker would be added in the third period to secure the win on home ice.
"It was huge for us to start the weekend off with this win," stated Caruana. "We were relentless on pucks. We won battles. We attacked the net. We want to keep things rolling now and build off this, do the same thing tomorrow."
The Ridgebacks will conclude their five-game homestand tomorrow afternoon when they welcome the Ryerson Rams to the Campus Ice Centre. Puck drop for the Saturday afternoon game is set for 3:30 p.m. with the game also streamed live on OUA.tv.
• Ridgebacks second-year forward
Katie Heath (Elora, Ont.) tied the game at 15:13 in the first period, banging home a loose puck in front of the Toronto net to draw even.
• UOIT captain
Kassidy Nauboris (Brampton, Ont.) scored the game-winning goal just two minutes later, roofing a wrister into the top corner. The goal is her sixth of the season, tying her for first in the OUA in goals scored.
• Playing in her 100th game as a Ridgeback, fifth-year forward
Mariah Wilson (Cobourg, Ont.) scored an insurance marker during a third period power play.
• Breanna Berndsen was the lone Varsity Blues goal scorer, finding the back of the net at 5:06 of the first period.
•
Brooke Vial improved her record to 3-0 on the season, making 28 saves on the afternoon for the Ridgebacks.
• Madeline Albert notched 20 saves in the loss for the Varsity Blues.
Overall Record: 5-1-5-1 (W-OTW-L-OTL)
Conference Record: 3-0-4-1
Next game: Saturday, Nov. 10 vs. Ryerson Rams • 3:30 p.m. – Campus Ice Centre
For all your Ridgebacks updates make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @uoitridgebacks.
