AROUND OUA: Blues come back to beat Lancers in OT

TORONTO - It was a goaltending showdown at the Mattamy Athletic Centre Saturday afternoon between the No. 5 Western Mustangs and the Ryerson Rams in OUA women's hockey action.

At one end of the ice, last season's MVP at the CIS Championship Kelly Campbell stood in the Mustangs net. At the other, Ryerson's Sydney Authier (Wallaceburg, Ont.) who was making her second ever OUA start. Experience defeated youth in the end as Western broke their three game losing streak with a 2-0 victory.

With the win, the Mustangs improved to 11-1-7-0 and moved into a tie for third place with the Waterloo Warriors. The Rams slid to 2-0-15-0 and have dropped their last five.

The Mustangs got the majority of the chances in the early going. Coming off a 3-1 loss to the Windsor Lancers the night before, Authier and Ryerson's defenders ensured Western stayed off the scoresheet. April Clark finally broke through for the Mustangs late in the period.

Katelyn Gosling rushed the puck deep into the Rams' zone and feathered a pass to Clark in the slot. She sent a backhand off the toe of her stick over Authier's shoulder and into the top corner. The first OUA goal of Clark's career made it 1-0.

Although the second period was scoreless, both teams traded great chances. The best was Ryerson's Victoria Chapman (Belleville, Ont.) snapping a shot past Campbell's pad and off the post. Authier and Campbell combined for 21 saves in the frame to keep it a one goal game.

On the powerplay in the third, Clark struck again. A point shot by Gosling went wide, ricocheted off the end boards and right onto the rookie's stick. With the majority of the net to shoot at, Clark didn't make a mistake. She buried her second of the night to extend Western's lead to two with less than eight minutes remaining.

Playing with eight players out of the lineup due to injuries, the Rams' short bench of only 15 skaters battled hard to get back into the game. With Authier pulled for the extra attacker, Ryerson got a number of great scoring opportunities in the last minute of play but couldn't solve Campbell.

She finished with 23 saves for her ninth win and fourth shutout of the season. She also improved her save percentage to .953 and dropped her goals against average to 1.40 (third and fourth in the OUA respectively).

"I think she's really good in traffic," said Ryerson's head coach Lisa Haley about Campbell following the game. "Typically with a goalie as skilled as she is, you want to try to take away her eyes and force some rebounds. She just made a lot of great first saves and didn't give us a lot of second looks."

After making 20 saves in her debut against Windsor the previous night, Authier was sensational once again for the Rams. She turned aside 31 shots in the loss.

"I think it carried over from yesterday's performance," said Haley. "I thought she consistently made the first saves that we needed her to make and she made a few that we weren't expecting her to make as well… She did everything that she could to keep us in a position to have a chance to win the hockey game."

After four straight games at home, Ryerson will head onto the road for the next couple of weeks. The good news is they begin their road trip with a short commute to Varsity Arena Thursday morning. Puck drop for the Rams clash with the No. 6 Toronto Varsity Blues (9-2-4-3) is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.

Source: Ryerson Rams

Gaels unable to solve No. 1 Gryphons in 3-0 loss

KINGSTON, Ont. (January 30, 2016) - The Gaels (9-1-5-2) were unable to hold back the high-powered the No.1 CIS ranked Guelph Gryphons (13-3-2-1) on Saturday afternoon, falling 3-0 at home.

Prior to the opening faceoff, Queen's honoured their senior class of players in a special ceremony. Danielle Girard (Sarnia, Ont.), Taryn Pilon (Peterborough, Ont.), Courtenay Jacklin (Regina, Sask.), Alisha Sealey (Elora, Ont.), Caitlyn Lahonen (Saskatoon, Sask.), and Mary Coughlin (Amherstburg, Ont.) were all on honoured prior to puck drop. The Gaels came into the game tied for fourth in the OUA with Toronto.
Game Flow
It was a very fast paced and up and down opening frame between the two teams. Guelph had the majority of the offensive zone pressure through the first 10 minutes. 12 minutes in, the Gryphons were handed a four-minute double minor and another two minute tripping call, giving the home team a key power-play opportunity. The Gaels were unable to capitalize, defending some tough shorthanded chances by the visitors.

The game remained scoreless after 20 minutes as each team searched for the opening goal of the game. The Gryphons had Queen's on their heels for most of the second and were able to take the lead just 1:07 in, on a quick breakaway chance by Averi Nooren. Nooren was the Achilles heel last time these two met, scoring a hat-trick. Nine minutes in, they doubled their lead on a close rebound chance in front of Lahonen. With a few chances late, the Gaels were unable to get sustained pressure in the Gryphons zone and trailed 2-0 heading into the third.

The fast-paced game continued into the final 20, both teams getting chances early on. Just over 10 minutes into the period, Ashlee Lawrence took advantage of a Gaels turnover and scored on her breakaway chance. Down 3-0, Queen's looked to chip away at their deficit. In the final seven minutes they had a few solid chances on a power-play, but were unable to convert. Guelph's Valerie Laments earned the shutout and the 3-0 win.

By the Numbers
1 & 2 - Lamenta and Lahonen sit first and second respectively in both GAA and SV% in the OUA
18 - shots on net by Queen's, to Guelph's 29
16 - penalty minutes called in the game
31 - points on the year for the Gaels

Up Next
Queen's will be the host to UOIT (4-1-13-1) for another matinee game at the Memorial Centre. The last time the teams met in November, the Gaels topped the Ridgeback 5-1.

Source: Queen's Gaels

Lions fall in OT to Voyageurs

On Saturday afternoon (Jan. 30), the York University women's hockey team fell 3-2 to the Laurentian Voyageurs in Sudbury, Ont., after the Voyageurs Julie Herbert was able to score a critical game-winning goal in the second overtime period.
 
With Herbert's game winner at 2:12, the Voyageurs are now seated in fifth place in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) standings, while the Lions sit in tenth place.
 
In the first period, the Voyageurs were able to open the scoring early at 3:18, when Marie-Pierre Pelissou was able to find Emma Leger in front of the net, Leger wasted no time in putting her team up a goal.
 
The Lions were quick to find the equalizer however, as Amy Locke (Toronto) slipped the puck past Laurentian goaltender Emily Toffoli to make it 1-1 at 12:52. Jenna Gray (London, Ont.) and Chelsea Tucker (Alliston, Ont.) were credited with the assists.
 
Before the end of the period, the Voyageurs were able to regain the lead at the 15:38 mark after taking advantage of a power play opportunity. Pelissou added her name to the scoreboard with the help of Taylor Weber who assisted the goal.
 
In the second period, Lions defenseman Jessa McAuliffe (Odessa, Ont.) found the stick of fellow rearguard Cynthia St-Cyr (New Liskeard, Ont.) who tucked the puck away and leveled the score at 2-2 at the 10:56 mark. However, with the Lions unable to score in regulation time, the game was forced into overtime and decided by a late goal from Herbert.
 
On Feb. 6 (Saturday), the Lions will return to the ice to take on the Guelph Gryphons at Canlan Ice Arena. Puck drop will be at 2pm.

Source: York Lions

Lakers grab a single point in SO loss to Brock

Coming off a thrilling, come-from-behind victory, the Nipissing Lakers women's hockey team was looking to make it two wins in a row this weekend and three in a row overall.

Unfortunately, the Brock Badgers had different plans.

The Lakers were hosting their annual Pink The Rink game, this year, sponsored by Scotiabank, but the party was ruined by the Badgers, who escaped with a 2-1 shootout win.

The second and final meeting between the two teams was a low scoring affair, with just two total goals scored in regulation and another in the shootout.

In their first meeting of the season, the teams combined for just two goals as well, but the Lakers scored both of those, winning 2-0 in October.

The Badgers, thanks to some strong goaltending, got their revenge.

After a scoreless first and second period, the Lakers opened up the scoring early in the third period as Natalie Graham potted her first OUA goal.

Molly Sipprell and Alexane Papineau picked up the assists on the go-ahead goal for Nipissing.

That score stood for over 10 minutes and with just over four minutes left in the game, the Badgers managed to tie the game.

The teams were tied 1-1 after 60 minutes of play, then after 65 as the first overtime period would solve nothing.

Same story in the second overtime, as the teams remained deadlocked and made their way to a shootout.

In the shootout, the Badgers found the back of the net, while all three Lakers shooters were denied giving Brock the extra point.

Nipissing ended up out-shooting the Badgers 30-28 in the 70 minutes of play, including a dominant 13-3 in the second period.

And while they came up short of the full three, or even two points, the Lakers did pick up a single point, extending that streak to three games – two wins and a shootout loss.

Sabrina Picard finished with 27 saves during the game, along with another one in the shootout.

Nipissing will look to next weekend, when they wrap up their play on home ice with a pair of game – Friday versus Queens and Saturday against UOIT.

The Lakers will wrap up the regular season the next weekend, when they travel to play the Guelph Gryphons.

Source: Nipissing Lakers

Calabrese nets winner as Golden Hawks edge Waterloo

WATERLOO, Ont. (January 30, 2016) – Cassandra Calabrese scored the game-winning goal with just over five minutes remaining in the third period to lift the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women's hockey team to a 2-1 win over the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday night at the Waterloo Recreation Complex.

Calabrese, a rookie defenceman from Brooklin, Ont., picked up a loose puck off a scramble in front of the Warriors net and fired a perfect shot through traffic to beat Waterloo netminder Rebecca Bouwhuis of Orillia, Ont., top corner. The goal was the first of Calabrese's OUA career.

Her tally came just over five minutes after Waterloo had tied the contest on a goal by Alison Hanson of Toronto, and gave the purple and gold their third consecutive victory.

Also scoring for the Hawks was fifth year defenceman Haley Baxter of Waterloo, Ont. She opened the scoring in the first period when her shot from the point deflected off a Waterloo player in front of the net and got past Bouwhuis. The goal was Baxter's third of the year, one off her career-high for a single season.

In goal, Amanda Smith of Burlington, Ont., continued her impressive return to the net as she stopped 24 shots to record her fourth win in four starts. The third year goalie now sports a 0.86 goals against average and a 0.968 save percentage this season.

Bouwhuis, meanwhile, took the loss for Waterloo allowing two goals on 22 shots.

The win vaulted the Hawks (10-1-7-1) into sixth place in the OUA standings with 33 points on the season, just two back of third place Waterloo (10-2-6-1). Currently, only four points separate third place from eighth place in the conference as the regular season enters the final three weeks of the schedule.

Laurier will be back in action next Friday, February 5 when they travel down the 401 to face the Windsor Lancers (6-1-11-1). Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game can be seen live on OUA.tv.

Source: Laurier Golden Hawks