OSHAWA, Ont. – It was less than 24 hours ago that the UOIT women's hockey team was on the other side of the outcome. The Ridgebacks were on the wrong side of a comeback win on Saturday, but showed strong character as they fought hard to earn a 5-4 come-from-behind win against the Windsor Lancers on Sunday.
The start was less than ideal for UOIT, as a strong first few minutes were erased by three Lancers goals in under ten minutes. After a strong game against Western,
Brooke Vial (Port Moody, B.C.) never found her groove and was replaced by
Briar Hughes (Thornton, Ont.).
The Ridgebacks battled for their goaltender and finally broke through with just over a minute left in the second period. Before the middle frame was over however, the Ridgebacks added another goal cutting the Lancers lead down to one.
A wild third period saw the Lancers regain a two-goal lead, only to have it answered by a Ridgebacks power play goal just a few minutes later. UOIT was determined to take this game to the dying seconds, but a power play with just over five minutes left in regulation, saw captain
Kassidy Nauboris (Brampton, Ont.) tie the game.
A thrilling back-and-forth overtime saw both teams get quality chances, but neither could find the elusive winning goal before time expired. The Ridgebacks were rewarded for their strong play in the shootout, able to claim a comeback victory, which saw them fire 62 shots on the Lancers net.
• Meredith Goldhawk opened the scoring in the first period, when she corralled a loose puck in front of the Ridgebacks net and tucked it in.
• Taylor Conte potted a pair of goals in the game, her first on a partial breakaway in the opening frame, and her second on a full breakaway early in the third period, was the fourth Lancers goal.
• The other Windsor goal was scored by Alix Reiter, also in the opening period.
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Alex Frigon (Dartmouth, N.S.) gave the Ridgebacks life late in the second period, when she sniped from just above the left face-off dot and beat Lancers goal over the glove.
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Megan Johnston (Goderich, Ont.) was able to jam a loose puck in from the side of the net, with only seventeen seconds left in the middle period.
• The Ridgebacks finally converted on the power play as
Erin Ross (Lucan, Ont.) tipped in a perfect cross crease pass with just a little over 10 minutes left in regulation.
• It was the captain Nauboris who tied the game for the Ridgebacks, when she chipped the loose puck over a sprawled out Lancers goaltender, late in the third period. UOIT finished 2-for-9 on the power play, but it wasn't until the late goals in the game that the Ridgebacks converted.
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Chelsea Ball (Maple, Ont.) secured the Ridgebacks win with her shootout goal, the only player to score out of 12 shooters.
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Brooke Vial made three saves before exiting the game, making way for
Briar Hughes who had 22 saves upon entering the game and received the win.
• Jaydlin Spooner faced 61 shots, stopping 57 in the loss.
Overall: 8-11-2-1 (W-L-OTW-OTL)
Conference: 6-10-1-1 (W-L-OTW-OTL)
Next Game: Friday, Jan. 26 vs. Guelph Gryphons • 2 p.m. – Guelph, Ont.
