OSHAWA, Ont. - In front of a full crowd for the Ridgebacks annual Blue & White Night, the UOIT women's hockey team defeated the visiting Laurier Golden Hawks 6-1 at the Campus Ice Centre on Thursday night.

The win keeps the Ridgebacks in the playoff hunt with an 8-11-1-1 (W-L-OTW-OTL) record, sitting three points behind the Brock Badgers for the final playoff position.

In the Thursday night showcase, four different Ridgebacks recorded a multi-point night, led by fifth-year veteran Chelsea Ball (Maple, Ont.) who finished the night with two goals and two assists.

UOIT returns to the Campus Ice Centre tomorrow evening, welcoming the Waterloo Warriors to Oshawa for the Friday afternoon showdown. Puck drop is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. with the game also being streamed live on OUA.tv.
 

LIGHT THE LAMP

• Ball opened the scoring seven minutes into the first period, rifling a shot past the Laurier netminder for a shorthanded marker.
• Linemate Kassidy Nauboris (Brampton, Ont.) added UOIT's second goal just five minutes later, capitalizing on a centre ice turnover for her 13th goal of the season.
• First-year standout Erin Ross (Lucan, Ont.) rounded out the Ridgebacks first period scoring, tipping in a Megan Johnston (Goderich, Ont.) wrist shot for a powerplay goal.
• With a crowd in front of the Laurier net, the puck found its way to the tape of Blaire Allison (Pickering, Ont.) who made no mistake with the open net, putting the Ridgebacks ahead 4-0 at 15:13 of the second period.
• The Golden Hawks broke the shutout late in the second period as Aynsley Harrison potted a powerplay marker of her own.
• With the man advantage early in the third period, Ball added her second goal of the game, her eighth of the season, one back of her single season career-high of nine set last year.
• Receiving a perfect pass from Nauboris, Johnston delivered from the slot scoring the final goal in the dominant UOIT team effort.
 

BETWEEN THE PIPES

• Brooke Vial (Port Moody, B.C.) made the start for the Ridgebacks making 21 saves for her sixth win of the season. Vial holds a .922 save percentage and 2.25 goals against average so far this year
• Facing 28 shots, Laurier's Nicole Yanchis made 22 saves in the loss.
 

RIDGEBACKS AT A GLANCE

Overall Record: 10-12-2-1 (W-L-OTW-OTL)
Conference Record: 8-11-1-1 (W-L-OTW-OTL)
 
Next Game: Friday, Feb. 1 vs. Waterloo Warriors • 3:30 p.m. – Campus Ice Centre

For all your Ridgebacks updates make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @uoitridgebacks.