OUA Women's Hockey Roundup (Jan. 15)
January 11th, 2018
York 3 Guelph 4
GUELPH – When you've won the McCaw Cup two consecutive years, the target is on your back. The Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team have been getting the best from opponents all season and Guelph faced another stiff test Thursday night on home ice from the York Lions. The Gryphons were far from their best but escaped with an improbable 4-3 comeback victory thanks to an overtime winner from first-year defenceman Katie Mikkelsen.
Despite trailing on three occasions, Guelph found a way to equalize each time before netting the deciding goal. York played a smart, disciplined game most of the night but in the overtime session, the Lions coughed the puck up in their own end and the defending champions made them pay. Karli Shell passed to the slot and found a streaking Mikkelsen, who looked more like a poised veteran forward burying a shot high over goaltender Eva Hall's glove at the 3:21 mark to secure Guelph's fifth straight win.
Mikkelsen, a towering presence on the blueline at 5-11, joined the Gryphons after playing one season of NCAA hockey at Ohio State.
"If you give Mik that much time and space, she will score most of the time," head coach Rachel Flanagansaid of the the talented Oshawa, ON native.
Captain Kaitlin Lowy had two goals, while Miranda Lantz also scored for the Gryphons (11-4-0). Guelph is now tied atop the OUA with Queen's at 32 points, though the Gaels have a game in hand.
A slow contest picked up in the second period before producing plenty of drama in a wild third. With the score knotted at 1-1, York's Kelsey McHolm took a drop pass from Brooke Anderson and beat Guelph goaltender Aurore Beaulieu high at the 4:12 mark of the third. Lantz replied just over four minutes later with a great backhand effort, but York snatched the lead back when defenceman Jenna Gray went to the net and banged one home with just three minutes remaining.
York were on the verge of an upset but the captain came to the rescue – for the second time of the night. With the Gryphon net empty, Lowy was somehow sent in alone on a breakaway and she beat Hall through the five hole with just 1:08 left in regulation to force the overtime.
Lowy, who also took a penalty in overtime, opened the scoring for Guelph in the second period. The markers were her 10th and 11th this season, putting her in second place in the OUA goal-scoring race.
"She was our player of the game," Flanagan said. "York is a tough team to play against and we needed our top players to come through for us tonight. And they did."
Beaulieu got the start in the Gryphon net and was sharp, making 24 saves. She didn't have much to do in the first period but then turned away 13 of 14 York shots in the second period, producing a number of huge saves when the Lions had the man advantage. The Calgary native saved the Gryphons in overtime when she slid across her crease and stopped a quick York shot with her pads, before smothering another good chance with her glove minutes later.
"Aurore played a solid game today," said Flanagan. "York did a great job of making it difficult for her to see so she had to work to find every shot."
The Gryphons had an uneventful first period as York came out skating hard, limiting the hosts to four shots on goal. The Lions looked more likely to break the scoreless deadlock as they sent a bunch of shots Beaulieu's way on a own power-play opportunity early in the second period. Guelph didn't register a shot on a subsequent man advantage of its own though the hosts created their best chance of the game to that point with under nine minutes left in the second. Lowy was sprung for a breakaway, but Hall forced her wide, causing the Gryphon star to lose the puck behind the net.
Lowy wouldn't miss on her next big opportunity. York took a well-earned 1-0 lead when Anderson pounced on a rebound and got one behind Beaulieu with 1:56 left before the intermission. But Lowy had an answer. She received a cross-crease pass from Kelly Gribbons at the left post, held on to the puck for just a second, then roofed it despite being a few feet away from the York goaltender, tying the game 1-1 with 22 seconds left in the period.
York outshot the Gryphons 14-8 in the period, though the hosts finished the night up 28-27 after registering 15 shots on goal in the third and the lone attempt in overtime, which was Mikkelsen's winner.
Source: gryphons.ca
January 12th, 2018
UOIT 1 Toronto 3
The Toronto Varsity Blues women's hockey team converted twice on the powerplay to edge the UOIT Ridgebacks 3-1 at Varsity Arena on Friday night (January 12). It marked U of T's third win in their last four games.
Lauren Straatman tied a career-high with three points on the night and linemate Louie Bieman registered two points, one of which was the game-winner.
The Varsity Blues dominated the puck battle early and a created a couple key scoring chances. Gabrielle De Serres, who picked up her first career OUA goal last game, went end to end but couldn't get it by Ridgebacks goalie Celine Tessier.
Less than minute later off the faceoff in Toronto's end, Jessica Robichaud poked it by defenceman Nicole Zabel for the breakaway. Similar to De Serres, third-year forward failed to find the back of the net. The Blues threw 24 pucks towards the net for 11 shots, compared to UOIT's 12 for a total of six shots, but weren't able to score.
The Ridgebacks opened the scoring with 6:45 left in the period. Chelsea Ball attempted the wrap around and the rebound squirted to Katie Heath, who made no mistake.
The Varsity Blues finally solved the puzzle on their third powerplay chance midway through the second. Lauren Straatman sent a wide-angle shot from beside the net and it somehow got by Tessier.
Midway through the third, Straatman intercepted a break out pass and when she attempted to connect with Louie Bieman in front, the puck hit a UOIT's skate. Bieman than drove to beat Tessier for her team-leading sixth goal. It gave Toronto their first lead of the game.
On their fifth powerplay with under three minutes remaining, Cristine Chao made an nice move to gain space and sniped it top shelf to hand Toronto a two-goal cushion. The Blues went 2-for-5 with the man advantage, which turned out to be the difference.
Valenica Yordanov made 16 saves to grab her first win of the season, while counterpart Tessier stopped 22 of the 25 shots she faced in a losing effort.
U of T's improves to 8-0-6-1 (W-OTW-L-OTL) and jumps over Waterloo and Ryerson to take sole possession of sixth place in the conference. UOIT have now lost seven of their last eight games for a record of 3-2-8-2.
The Blues five-game home stand comes to an end Saturday night (January 13) when they battle the No.7 Guelph Gryphons in the first of a home-and-home. Guelph (9-2-4-0) is currently riding a five-game winning streak and has only lost once in their previous 11 contests.
Source: varsityblues.ca
Nipissing 4 Laurier 1
WATERLOO, Ont. (January 12, 2018) – The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women’s hockey team lost their third straight game falling 4-1 to the Nipissing Lakers on Friday night.
Special teams proved to be the difference in the contest as the Lakers scored on the powerplay and shorthanded to come away with the victory.
Kaley Tienhaara of Thunder Bay, Ont., and Bronwyn Bolduc of Thunder Bay, Ont., each tallied twice for the visitors as they improved to 8-2-4-1 on the season.
Carly AuCoin of Cambridge, Ont., replied for Laurier (1-1-10-2) midway through the third period with her first of the season.
Jacqueline Rochefort of Ajax, Ont., earned the victory for Nipissing as she stopped 16 of the 17 shots her way.
Reigning Laurier Female Athlete of the Week Hannah Miller of Georgetown, Ont., made her fifth consecutive start and turned aside 30 shots.
The Hawks will look to put an end to their losing skid on Saturday night when they host the Laurentian Voyageurs (5-1-5-3) at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex.
Source: laurierathletics.com
Brock 0 Queen’s 3
KINGSTON, Ont. (January 12, 2018) – The No. 8 Queen's Gaels (9-3-1-2) got back on track on Friday night with a dominant 3-0 victory over the Brock Badgers (7-4-3-2). Stephanie Pascal (Sudbury, Ont.) was great in net for the Gaels as they got back to their winning ways against the Badgers. After losing their first regulation game last weekend, the Gaels responded with a great sixty-minute effort.
GAME FLOW
Queen's came out strong in the first period, giving the Badgers all they could handle, outshooting them 11-7 in the frame. They were rewarded for their hard work early on, when Katrina Manoukarakis (Scarborough, Ont.) tipped home a Jessica Wakefield (Lucan, Ont.) point shot for her ninth of the season. Pascal was strong in the opening frame, stopping all seven Badger shots.
The second period was more of the same, as Queen's controlled play. Wakefield extended the Gaels lead to 2-0 at 5:38 of the frame when she went inside-out on a Badgers defender before burying her sixth of the season. The Gaels added to their lead in shots with a 13-9 lead in the second period.
In the third period, the Gaels came out with a sound strategy of defending their lead while also generating scoring chances. They were able to keep the Badgers off the score sheet while also adding a late tally from Addi Halladay (North Augusta, Ont.) at 18:55 to close out the win.
Pascal made 24 saves in the shutout victory for the Gaels while Jensen Murphy recorded 31 saves in the loss for the Badgers.
Source: gogaelsgo.com
January 13th, 2018
Nipissing 1 Western 2
LONDON, Ont. – Alyssa Chiarello's fourth goal of the season couldn't have come at a better time, scoring just over a minute and a half into overtime to give the Western Mustangs a 2-1 win over the Nipissing Lakers on Saturday afternoon at Thompson Arena.
"I thought, for the most part, in terms of our structure, they did a really good job in using the special teams as part of our momentum into our overall five-on-five play," said Mustangs head coach Kelly Paton. "Obviously getting the power play goal in the first period was big, and we had a couple kills, and then continued going to the box. They obviously got one in the second period there. But, moving into the third we had a couple opportunities where big kills gave us momentum, and then a little bit of confidence as well."
Western sits at 9-2-3-1 with the overtime win, taking sole possession of second place in the OUA standings, only two points behind the Queen's Gaels. The win is also Western's fourth consecutive victory, and the Mustangs have gone undefeated since the calendar flipped to 2018 with three wins in the new year.
Saturday's loss snaps Nipissing's three-game winning streak and gives the Lakers an 8-2-4-2 record, good for fifth place in the league.
Chiarello and Amanda Pererira led the Mustangs offence with one goal each. Pererira scored the first marker of the night, also her fourth of the season, before Chiarello netted the overtime winner.
Kaley Tienhaara scored Nipissing's lone goal and now has six on the year to rank second on the team.
The first period started out as an evenly played affair before the Mustangs dominated the second half. Nipissing was limited to six shots on net thanks to tight defence from the Mustangs along with a series of power plays for the home side.
Western got the first point on the board ten minutes into the first frame on the power play. Pereira capitalized off a rebound at the top of the crease, sliding the puck past netminder Jackie Rochefort to put the Mustangs up 1-0.
"[April Clark] did a really good job getting it to Emma [Pearson] and I was kind of just wide open there in front, and it was good heads-up play by Emma to get the puck through," said Pereira. "The rebound came out and I just kind of swung and got it there."
The Mustangs had a hard time clearing the puck in the second period, and Nipissing controlled the play. Carmen Lasis had plenty of opportunities to showcase her abilities in the Western net, saving a breakaway with two minutes left and 19 shots total in the period.
Tienhaara scored for Nipissing on the power play half-way through the second frame, spinning around and putting the puck past Lasis to even the score at 1-1.
After neither team was able to solve the deadlock in the third, overtime was required to decide a winner.
A minute and a half into the three-on-three overtime, Chiarello netted the winning goal with a top shelf shot.
"[Clark] made a great pass over to me," said Chiarello. "Moving it across my body to the outside worked earlier in the game, so I kind of just thought hopefully that would work again, and my coach always tells me to shoot high, so I thought it was a great opportunity to bring that out."
The Mustangs have a tight turnaround following today's game, as they face the Laurentian Voyageurs tomorrow afternoon at Thompson Arena.
"For us we just want to look at some of the areas we can be better in," said Paton. "I think specifically for us it's our neutral-zone play and managing the puck and making good decisions around where our support is. So, we'll definitely take a look at that in video tomorrow before the game, but we're just taking it game by game. And we're going to look at our opponent and talk about strategies, where we think we can get an advantage."
Source: westernmustangs.ca
Brock 3 UOIT 1
The No. 10 ranked Brock University women's hockey team defeated the UOIT Ridgebacks by the score of 3-1 Saturday night at the Campus Ice Centre.
The Badgers opened the scoring 13 minutes into the first period As Marissa Graham and Kimberly Brown set up Becca Hogan for her first goal of the regular season.
Eight minutes into the second, Amanda Ieradi found Christina Ieradi who buried her sixth goal the season for the 2-0 lead.
With three minutes left in regulation, the Ridgebacks made it a 2-1 game, as Alex Frigon beat Brock goaltender Jensen Murphy for her second goal of the campaign. Brock would secure the victory with 32 seconds remaining as Kailey Peirson added an empty netter for the 3-1 road victory.
Murphy registered 41 saves for her league leading 11th win of the season. Murphy is currently ranked first in the OUA in six categories; Games played (17), Games started (17), Minutes (1011:38), Saves (528), Save pct (.951) and Wins (11). UOIT's Briar Hughes collected 19 saves in the loss.
Source: gobadgers.ca
York 3 Windsor 1
The York University Lions women's hockey team picked up an important three points in the OUA standings on Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 victory over the Windsor Lancers on the road.
The Lions were the first team to get on the board, breaking the scoreless tie at the 12:53 mark of the first period. Forward Courtney Gardiner was able to beat Morgan Farrow off assists from Kayla Hosegood and Cynthia St-Cyr. After the goal, the Lancers tightened up and got to the break down 1-0 after 20 minutes.
In the second period, the Lancers were able to make the best out of a bad situation. Halfway through the frame while killing a penalty, Amy Maitre fired one past Lions goaltender Lauren Dubie. The goal, assisted by Muna Fadel, tied the game just as the Lions' power play came to a close.
Any momentum gained from the goal was short-lived, however, as Jenna Gray put the Lions ahead two minutes later. Shortly after Gray's goal, Lions forward Erin Locke beat Farrow for the game clincher.
Neither team found the back of the net in the third period and the Lions improved to 5-0-8-3 with the victory. The Lancers, meanwhile, dropped to 1-1-13-3 and remain at the bottom of the OUA standings.
Source: yorkulions.ca
Guelph 3 Toronto 0
TORONTO, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team has earned the title of OUA champions each of the past two seasons, thanks in large part to some outstanding play from their team defence and star goalie. Those elements were on full display once again on Saturday night in Toronto as the No. 7-ranked Gryphons picked up a 3-0 road win over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues. All-Canadian goalie Valerie Lamenta made 27 saves for her third shutout of the season with Sydney Davison and Claire Merrick both scoring off tip-ins, followed by a Kaitlin Lowy empty-netter. With the win, the Gryphons push their win streak to six and improve to 12-4-0 on the season while the Varsity Blues fall to 8-7-1.
"That was one of the most complete games we've played in a while," said Gryphons head coach Rachel Flanagan. "We had lots of time in the offensive zone and Val was really good tonight. It was a well-deserved three points tonight."
The Gryphons opened the scoring 14:38 into the 1st period on a nice re-direct from sophomore forward Sydney Davison. For Davison, it marked her second goal in her last three games. The Varsity Blues would have a great chance to tie the game up in the 2nd period with a pair of Gryphons in the penalty box. The Gryphons' penalty kill unit would step up by killing off the U of T two-man advantage, with the Varsity Blues failing to register a shot on net despite having a 5-on-3 advantage for 90 seconds.
The Gryphons would push the lead to 2-0 in the dying stages of the 2nd period with third year forward Claire Merrick (Oakville, ON) tipping home her goal of the season. That would prove to be more than enough for Lamenta, who turned away all 27 shots sent her way, with Guelph limiting U of T to just seven shots on net in the final period.
Team Captain Kaitlin Lowy would add an empty netter with just :35 seconds remaining in regulation for her 12th goal of the season, making her the leading goal scorer in the country.
Source: gryphons.ca
Laurentian 1 Laurier 0
On Saturday night, the Voyageurs women's hockey team earned their seventh win of the season as they shut out the Laurier Golden Hawks 1-0.
The first period was scoreless, despite the Golden Hawks controlling the play. Shanna Dolighan stopped all 5 shots she faced in the first frame, while the Voyageurs were able to get 13 on net in the other end.
The scoreless tie continued through the second with nothing more than two minutes of penalty kill for the Voyageurs. Dolighan again made saves on all three shots she faced while sending 10 shots on Laurier's Cohen Myers.
Late in the third period, Natalie Lamarche finally found the back of the net as Marie-Pierre Pelissou and Nicole Vigilanti would manage the assist at 18:56. The end of the third period resulted in 22 minutes of penalties both assessed to Laurentian and Laurier following a scrum.
Dolighan's 15 save shutout was her first shutout of the season and the Voyageurs are now on to Western this Sunday.
Source: luvoyageurs.com
Queen’s 3 Ryerson 4
TORONTO - Special teams both hurt and propelled the Ryerson Rams in a matchup that saw the team overcome a two-goal deficit against the No. 8 nationally ranked Queen’s Gaels, with the Rams coming away with a 4-3 overtime victory.
The Gaels would come out strong in both the first and second period, opening the scoring six minutes into the game on their first power play goal of the matchup. Ryerson’s Emma Low-A-Chee (North York, Ont.) would retaliate for the Rams just a few minutes later, scoring her third goal of the season to tie the game at one.
The Gaels would add two more power play goals in the second period to increase their lead after 30 minutes of play. Alex Rodriguez (Toronto, Ont.) and Brooklyn Gemmill (Brampton, Ont.) would tally two goals across two periods to level the playing field for the Rams heading into the final minutes of regulation.
Ryerson would kill off a Queen’s 5-on-3 power play opportunity at the end of the third period to send the game into sudden death overtime. Head coach Lisa Haley says the late-game penalty kill gave her team an energy boost moving into OT.
“Heading into the game, we thought that special teams were going to decide the game,” said Haley. “I think it decided in our favour. Being able to kill off that three-on-five gave us a lot of momentum and a lot of confidence.”
The Rams had a look on the man-advantage in overtime but couldn’t capitalize, and it wasn’t until Ryerson’s Justine Johnson (Burnaby, B.C.) went streaking away on a two-on-one opportunity that the team would claim their 4-3 overtime victory. Johnson’s game-winning goal was her first of the season and her first in the OUA.
“Sarah [McGilvray] had passed it to me off the wall coming out of our zone,” said Johnson. “We were on a two-on-one so I had the choice to either pass or shoot - I thought shoot. So I did, and luckily it went in.”
“The team is buzzing after that win, the energy is really high,” said team captain Ailish Forfar (Sharon, Ont.). “I knew we could win that game and it just took the extra minutes to do it.”
Source: ryersonrams.ca
January 14th, 2018
Waterloo 2 Ryerson 5
The 2018 struggles continued for the women's hockey team on Sunday in Toronto as Waterloo dropped their third straight game of 2018 by a score of 5-2 to the Ryerson Rams.
With the loss Waterloo fell to 8-6-0 while Ryerson won their fourth straight and improved to 10-4-2.
Ryerson scored two goals in the opening eight minutes and took a 2-0 lead into the second frame. Ryerson then went ahead 3-0 at the 4:44 mark of the second period before Amy Barnard (Cambridge) got the Warriors on the board with her second of the season. Angela MacDonald (Kitchener) and Emma Pye (Oshawa) picked up the helpers on the goal.
Ryerson took a 4-1 lead before Stephanie Digness (Aldergrove) tallied her team leading fourth power play goal to cut Ryerson's lead in half but the Rams added a PP goal of their own early in the third to sink any hopes of a comeback from the black and gold.
In net Taylor Reimer (Morden) took the loss allowing three goals on 11 shots while Stephanie Sluys (Clinton) made 11 saves in relief. Rachel Seeley picked up the win with a 25-save performance.
Source: athletics.uwaterloo.ca
Laurentian 2 Western 1
On Sunday afternoon, the Voyageurs women's hockey team extended their winning streak to five straight games with a 2-1 win over the Western Mustangs and are now in seventh spot in the OUA.
Ellery Veerman opened the scoring for the Voyageurs at 6:57 of the first period with her fifth goal in just six games this season. Natalie Lamarche and Marie-Pierre Pelissou assisted on Veerman's goal. Shanna Dolighan stopped all nine shots she faced in the period.
Western had the edge in the second period as they gained momentum off a few Voyageur penalties. Shailyn Waites was able to solve Dolighan at 11:01 of the second period to tie the contest.
Waites' goal was the only goal for either side in the period, despite Western outshooting the Vees 12-4.
The Voyageurs dug deep and regained their lead at 9:13 of the period courtesy of Jessica Davis' first OUA goal as she beat Carmen Lasis on an unassisted effort, giving the Vees a 2-1 lead.
The Voyageurs played sound defensively for the remainder of the third and were able to fend off any last minute attempts to tie the game by the Mustangs.
With their fifth win in a row, and now sitting in the playoff picture, the Voyageurs host York next weekend and will look to stay undefeated in 2018.
Source: luvoyageurs.com