Campbell’s shutout sends Western to first-ever CIS women’s hockey championship final

CALGARY (CIS) – Kelly Campbell stopped all 28 shots she faced to lead the Western Mustangs to a 2-0 win over the Montreal Carabins in the second semi-final of the 2015 CIS women's hockey championship.
 
The Mustangs will now play for their first-ever CIS title on Sunday evening against the McGill Martlets at 6 p.m. MT (8 p.m. ET) on Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet 360 and CIS-SIC.tv.
 
The Carabins, meanwhile, saw their streak of national final appearances end at three and will face St. Francis Xavier for the bronze medal Sunday at 2:30 p.m. MT (4:30 p.m. ET).
 
"Today there's no question that Kelly Campbell won that game for us," said Western head coach Chris Higgins. "We battled, in the last five-six minutes I don't think they got any scoring chances, but boy was she good."
 
"There's nothing to be ashamed of, it's a good game we knew it was a good team, we were on a hard side of the draw," said Montreal head coach Isabelle Leclaire. "I think we played well tonight, I think we dominated the game the shots on the clock showed that and the shots that we attempted that they blocked also, I think we had puck possession all game, it is tough but it's hockey."
 
"In the first part of the game we didn't do a good job at putting the puck at the net, as we advanced in the game I thought we did well but basically [Campbell] caught everything as if it was really easy for her, I think the difference in the game was the goalie on the other side."
 
Campbell proved to be the key in a defensive battle that didn't see its first goal until the final 20 seconds of the second period.
 
"A lot of hard work has gone into this team and making it this far," said Campbell. "Our team played amazing in front of me and I can't ask for more."
 
Despite some quality chances on the power play, neither team was able to solve the other in the opening frame, with both goaltenders making a few key stops to keep the game scoreless through 20 minutes.
 
The Carabins held the edge through most of the second, thanks in part to a trio of penalties for the Mustangs, but were unable to find a way past Campbell. Just as it appeared that the game would head into the final frame without a goal, Stacey Scott fired a puck that bounced off of Cassidy Gosling with 20 seconds left to send the Mustangs into the third period with a 1-0 lead.
 
"Me and Katie Hubert just crashed the net hard after Stacey put it on net. It could have gone off of anyone, but it hit the goalie and bounced off my butt and went in, so whatever it takes I guess," said Gosling.
 
Montreal came out strong to start the third, and continued to outshoot the Mustangs, however Campbell held strong and Kendra Broad locked up the win with an empty net goal in the final minute to give Western a 2-0 victory.
 
Campbell's 28-save shutout earned her player of the game honours for the Mustangs, while Laurence Beaulieu was selected for Montreal.
 
While the Mustangs will now head to the championship final for the first time they'll face an opponent that not only is the defending national champion, but will be playing for the CIS title for the eighth time.
 
"If you had told me in September that we'd be going into the national championship I wouldn't have cared who we'd be playing," said Higgins. "I'm so proud of these girls, I'm so proud of the guys I coach with. [McGill will] play their best game tomorrow, we'll play our best game tomorrow and let's just see what happens."
 
Western and McGill will face off on Sunday evening at 6 p.m. MT (8 p.m. ET), live on Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet 360, and CIS-SIC.tv.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
 
FIRST PERIOD
 
No Scoring
 
PENALTIES:
 
Hubert (WES) tripping, 5:32;
Pearson (WES) hooking, 7:04;
Pilon-Robert (MTL) roughing, 12:36.
 
SECOND PERIOD
 
1. WES Cassidy Gosling (1) (Emma Pearson), 19:40
 
PENALTIES:
 
Lasis (WES) hooking, 1:46;
Beaulieu (MTL) cross-checking, 10:12;
Scott (WES) hooking, 10:12;
Kidd (WES) bodychecking, 14:39.
 
THIRD PERIOD
 
2. WES Kendra Broad (1) Unassisted, 19: 32 EN
 
PENALTIES:
 
None
 
GOALS (by period)
WES 0-1-1: 2
MTL 0-0-0: 0
 
SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
WES 8-4-7: 19
MTL 7-13-8: 28
 
POWER PLAY:
WES 0-2
MTL 0-5
 
GOALTENDERS
WES – Kelly Campbell (W, 2-0, 28 shots, 28 saves, 0 GA, 60:00)
MTL – Élodie Rousseau-Sirois (L, 1-1, 18 shots, 17 saves, 1 GA, 59:20)
 
PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
WES: Kelly Campbell
MTL: Laurence Beaulieu
 
REFEREE: Melanie Bordeleaux
 
LINESMEN: Cianna Lieffers, Cydnie Brice
 
ATTENDANCE: 288
 
START: 6:32
END: 8:54
LENGTH: 2:22
 
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times MOUNTAIN TIME)
 
Thursday, March 12
15:00 Quarter-final 1: StFX 4, Guelph 3
19:00 Quarter-final 2: McGill 8, Calgary 2
 
Friday, March 13
11:00 Consolation 1: Guelph 4, Calgary 2
15:00 Quarter-final 3: Western 3, Moncton 1
19:00 Quarter-final 4: Montreal 4, Alberta 3
 
Saturday, March 14
11:00 Consolation 2: Moncton 4, Alberta 1
15:00 Semifinal 1: McGill 1, StFX 0
18:30 Semifinal 2: Western 2, Montreal 0
 
Sunday, March 15
11:00 5th-place game: No. 5 Guelph vs No. 7 Moncton (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
14:30 Bronze: No. 4 St. FX vs No. 6 Montreal (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
18:00 Final: No. 1 McGill vs No. 2 Western (Sportsnet 360 & ONE / www.CIS-SIC.tv) *
 
* The webcast of the semifinals & final are on pay-per-view basis.

Source: CIS