February 19, 2014
WOMEN'S HOCKEY ROUNDUP: Laurier takes a 1-0 lead in semifinal series with Toronto
Wednesday, February 19
Toronto 1 @ Laurier 4
WATERLOO, Ont. (February 19, 2014) - For the second time in her career, forward Devon Skeats of Whitby, Ont., recorded a hat-trick in a playoff game as she led the No. 4 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women's hockey team to a 4-1 victory over the No. 7 Toronto Varsity Blues on Wednesday night at the Waterloo Recreation Complex.
Skeats, whose first playoff hat-trick came against the StFX X-Women in the CIS Championship in her rookie season, notched her second, third and fourth goals of the playoffs as Laurier grabbed a 1-0 series lead over Toronto in the best-of-three OUA Semifinal.
Emily Kekewich of Kingston, Ont., was the Hawks other goal scorer as she recorded the game-winning goal with her first career playoff tally.
Rookie goalie Amanda Smith of Burlington, Ont., was also a difference maker for the Golden Hawks in this game as she stopped 30 of the 31 shots she faced, including all 15 in the opening period, to earn her second career playoff victory.
Taylor Day of Ilderton, Ont., scored Toronto's lone goal while goalie Nicole Kesteris of Aurora, Ont., suffered the loss after allowing three goals on 30 shots.
Despite the scoreline, it was a nervous start for the purple and gold as Toronto came flying out of the gate. The Varsity Blues outshot the Hawks 15-8 and had three power play opportunities in the opening 20 minutes but some strong goaltending from Smith kept them off the board.
Laurier slowly started to turn their game around in the second period and finally broke the scoreless deadlock at the 13:04 mark of the second period when Skeats fired home her first of the game. That scoreline would hold but Laurier had swung momentum in their favour as they outshot Toronto 13-10 in the period.
The Hawks carried their strong play into the third and grabbed the lead when Kekewich finished off her first goal since January 11, 2013. Skeats would stretch the lead to two with her second of the game just three minutes later. The lone assist on her goal went to Smith who was able to add a point to her nights work.
Although Day was able to cut into Laurier's lead before the halfway mark of the third, the Hawks defence would not allow them to get any closer as the Blues were held to just six shots in the final frame. Skeats would round out the scoring with an empty net goal to seal the victory.
The Hawks will now look to wrap up the series on the road when they travel to Toronto on Friday, February 21 for Game 2. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. at Varsity Arena and the game will be webcast live on goBlues.tv.
NOTE: The start time of the game was delayed by 45 minutes due to the Varsity Blues getting stuck in traffic on the 401
Source: Laurier Sports Info
Queen's 2 @ Guelph 1 (3OT)
Guelph, Ont. (February 19, 2014) – Shawna Griffin scored at 16:29 of the third overtime period to lead the Queen's Gaels women's hockey team to a 2-1 win over the home team Gryphons in the first game of the best-of-three OUA semi final series Wednesday night in Guelph.
With time winding down in the third overtime period, the Gaels regular season leading goal scorer Shawna Griffin found the back of the net following a scramble in the crease.Â
Guelph goaltender Stephanie Nehring (Oshawa, Ont.) stopped 29 of 31 shots while Mel Dodd-Moher saved 42 of 43 shots.
The Gaels started the game with a power play early on in the first period after Gryphons player; Amanda Parkins was called for tripping at 2:43. Queen's was quick to set up in front of the net and scored their first goal of the game and their only goal in regulation less than ten seconds into the man advantage with a shot from Jessica Wakefield that would make it 1-0 at 2:51 in the first period, with Marie-Pierre Pelissou on the assist. The Gryphons would pick up the intensity as the period progressed out shooting the Gaels with a total of 10-6 in the first period.
The game would stay at 1-0 for the majority of the regulation time, with the Gryphons struggling to get a shot past the Gael goalie Mel Dodd-Moher. The Gryphons would not get a point on the board until the last few minutes of play when Kimberley Wong would finally tie up the game at 1-1 at 18:44 in the third period, with Christine Grant and Emily Corbett on the assists.
With the two teams deadlocked at one, the game headed into overtime. With the evenly matched teams both fighting aggressively for the game-winning goal fatigue began to slip into the play of both teams. In the end it was the Gaels who would pull out the overtime win.
The series will now move to Kingston with game two taking place on Friday, February 21 at 7:30 p.m. Game three will take place back in Guelph on Sunday, February 23 at 2:00 p.m.
Source: Guelph Sports Info
Toronto 1 @ Laurier 4
WATERLOO, Ont. (February 19, 2014) - For the second time in her career, forward Devon Skeats of Whitby, Ont., recorded a hat-trick in a playoff game as she led the No. 4 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women's hockey team to a 4-1 victory over the No. 7 Toronto Varsity Blues on Wednesday night at the Waterloo Recreation Complex.
Skeats, whose first playoff hat-trick came against the StFX X-Women in the CIS Championship in her rookie season, notched her second, third and fourth goals of the playoffs as Laurier grabbed a 1-0 series lead over Toronto in the best-of-three OUA Semifinal.
Emily Kekewich of Kingston, Ont., was the Hawks other goal scorer as she recorded the game-winning goal with her first career playoff tally.
Rookie goalie Amanda Smith of Burlington, Ont., was also a difference maker for the Golden Hawks in this game as she stopped 30 of the 31 shots she faced, including all 15 in the opening period, to earn her second career playoff victory.
Taylor Day of Ilderton, Ont., scored Toronto's lone goal while goalie Nicole Kesteris of Aurora, Ont., suffered the loss after allowing three goals on 30 shots.
Despite the scoreline, it was a nervous start for the purple and gold as Toronto came flying out of the gate. The Varsity Blues outshot the Hawks 15-8 and had three power play opportunities in the opening 20 minutes but some strong goaltending from Smith kept them off the board.
Laurier slowly started to turn their game around in the second period and finally broke the scoreless deadlock at the 13:04 mark of the second period when Skeats fired home her first of the game. That scoreline would hold but Laurier had swung momentum in their favour as they outshot Toronto 13-10 in the period.
The Hawks carried their strong play into the third and grabbed the lead when Kekewich finished off her first goal since January 11, 2013. Skeats would stretch the lead to two with her second of the game just three minutes later. The lone assist on her goal went to Smith who was able to add a point to her nights work.
Although Day was able to cut into Laurier's lead before the halfway mark of the third, the Hawks defence would not allow them to get any closer as the Blues were held to just six shots in the final frame. Skeats would round out the scoring with an empty net goal to seal the victory.
The Hawks will now look to wrap up the series on the road when they travel to Toronto on Friday, February 21 for Game 2. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. at Varsity Arena and the game will be webcast live on goBlues.tv.
NOTE: The start time of the game was delayed by 45 minutes due to the Varsity Blues getting stuck in traffic on the 401
Source: Laurier Sports Info
Queen's 2 @ Guelph 1 (3OT)
Guelph, Ont. (February 19, 2014) – Shawna Griffin scored at 16:29 of the third overtime period to lead the Queen's Gaels women's hockey team to a 2-1 win over the home team Gryphons in the first game of the best-of-three OUA semi final series Wednesday night in Guelph.
With time winding down in the third overtime period, the Gaels regular season leading goal scorer Shawna Griffin found the back of the net following a scramble in the crease.Â
Guelph goaltender Stephanie Nehring (Oshawa, Ont.) stopped 29 of 31 shots while Mel Dodd-Moher saved 42 of 43 shots.
The Gaels started the game with a power play early on in the first period after Gryphons player; Amanda Parkins was called for tripping at 2:43. Queen's was quick to set up in front of the net and scored their first goal of the game and their only goal in regulation less than ten seconds into the man advantage with a shot from Jessica Wakefield that would make it 1-0 at 2:51 in the first period, with Marie-Pierre Pelissou on the assist. The Gryphons would pick up the intensity as the period progressed out shooting the Gaels with a total of 10-6 in the first period.
The game would stay at 1-0 for the majority of the regulation time, with the Gryphons struggling to get a shot past the Gael goalie Mel Dodd-Moher. The Gryphons would not get a point on the board until the last few minutes of play when Kimberley Wong would finally tie up the game at 1-1 at 18:44 in the third period, with Christine Grant and Emily Corbett on the assists.
With the two teams deadlocked at one, the game headed into overtime. With the evenly matched teams both fighting aggressively for the game-winning goal fatigue began to slip into the play of both teams. In the end it was the Gaels who would pull out the overtime win.
The series will now move to Kingston with game two taking place on Friday, February 21 at 7:30 p.m. Game three will take place back in Guelph on Sunday, February 23 at 2:00 p.m.
Source: Guelph Sports Info
