AROUND OUA: Laurier upsets Western in double overtime
WATERLOO, Ont. – Western lost an exciting double overtime game to the Laurier Golden Hawks by a score of 2-1 on Saturday night in Waterloo.
SCOREBOARD
Laurier upsets Western in double overtime
WATERLOO, Ont. – Western lost an exciting double overtime game to the Laurier Golden Hawks by a score of 2-1 on Saturday night in Waterloo.
Brianna Iazzolino scored the lone goal and Kelly Campbell made 35 saves in the losing effort.
Campbell's counterpart, Laurier net minder Amanda Smith, was spectacular throughout regulation and overtime, making 36 stops on 37 shots.
The game started well for the Mustangs. They transitioned out of their own zone well and fired several shots towards Smith. Unfortunately, the Mustangs were unable to capitalize on their early momentum and the game remained scoreless after one period.
Laurier opened the scoring with just under two minutes left in the second period. After a great five on thee penalty kill, the Mustangs lost the handle on their defensive zone coverage. Western allowed forward Heather Platt to find some space in the slot. Platt fired a snap shot that caromed off of a Western defenders body and past Campbell. The goal was assisted by defensemen Giuliana Pallotta and forward Rebecca Haddaway.
The game went to the third period with the Golden Hawks still leading 1-0.
The Mustangs waited until the waning moments of the final frame to tie up the game. With under two minutes left, Iazzolino received a pass from her defense partner Katelyn Gosling and fired home a seeing eye shot through traffic that beat Smith. The goal was one of 15 shots the Mustangs fired at Smith in the final period in a desperate attempt to score the tying goal.
That would prove to be the last goal of regulation, meaning the game would go to a four on four-overtime period.
Just over a minute into the extra frame forward Lindsay Kirkham found herself in alone on Smith. Kirkham went to her forehand and tried to stuff in past the outstretched pad of Smith, but was unable to jam it home. As overtime provided room for large momentum swings, Laurier took the puck back down the ice and Campbell was forced to make two big saves in tight.
The four on four-overtime did not provide a winner, so the game progressed to a three on three-overtime period.
In that period, Laurier defensemen Blair Connelly gained a head of steam in the neutral zone and came into the Mustang zone. She made a great move to the middle of found a way to beat Campbell on her backhand to give Laurier the win.
The Mustangs will look to rebound when they host the Brock Badgers on Sunday afternoon at Thompson Arena.
Source: Western Mustangs
No. 1 Gryphons too much for Lions
The York University Lions women's hockey team fell to the CIS number one ranked Guelph Gryphons by a score of 3-0 on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 6) at Canlan Ice Sports.
The Lions were in tough against the current top dog in the nation as the Gryphons managed the game extraordinarily well, which resulted in virtually mistake free hockey.
In the first period the Lions went toe to toe with the Gryphons, and for a large portion of the period controlled the game. Although, late in the first period the Gryphons turned the intensity up and began to pepper Lions goaltender Megan Lee (Orillia, Ont.), but Lee hung in there and turned aside all 9 shots.
The momentum that the Gryphons mustered up late in first transferred over to the second, as they were the first team to break the deadlock. A Lion give away in their own zone led to Karli Shell taking the puck behind the net and feeding Sophie Contant in the slot who beat Lee five hole.
The third period was a defensive showdown, as the Lions and Gryphons shut down the middle of the ice and there were minimal passing lanes for either side. The Lions pulled Lee with three minutes remaining in the third which resulted in two quick Gryphon tallies, sealing the game for the Gryphons.
Lee was solid between the pipes the entire game stopping 31 of 32 Gryphon shots, the second time this season that Lee faced 32 shots from the Gryphons.
The Lions have been a dominant home team going 6-2 prior to Saturdays loss, but have fallen to an overall record of 3-4-9-3. The Guelph Gryphons extended their win streak to seven straight games, which improved their season record to 14-3-2-1.
The Lions are back on the ice tomorrow (Feb. 7) when they welcome the 10-2-6-1 Waterloo Warriors to the Canlan Ice Sports Arena for a 2pm puck drop.
Source: York Lions
Case of the Blues: Toronto tops Waterloo
The Waterloo Warriors' special teams must've had head coach Shaun Reagan singing the blues on Saturday afternoon in Waterloo.
The Toronto Varsity Blues went 2-3 on the power play, and killed off 4 of 5 penalties en route to a 4-1 win over the Warriors at the Columbia Icefield Arena on Saturday.
Jessica Robichaud scored twice and added an assist for Toronto, who leapt up to third place in the OUA with the win. The Blues also got goals from Taylor Day and Lauren Straatman, while goaltender Valencia Yordanov made 29 saves in the win.
For the Warriors, it's their second straight loss following a four-game winning streak. Rachel Marriott (Waterloo) scored her twelfth goal of the season for Waterloo, while Rebecca Bouwhuis (Orillia) stopped 22 shots in the loss.
Day opened the scoring just 3:18 into the game, in what would be the game's only even-strength goal. Robichaud added a power play marker late in the first to give the visitors a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Robichaud scored again on the power play in the second, before Marriott got Waterloo on the board with a power play marker of her own just over a minute later. The goal seemed to ignite the Warriors, but they couldn't draw closer, eventually conceding an empty-net goal to Straatman in the dying moments.
The Warriors will now look to vault up to the top of the OUA logjam tomorrow afternoon, when they travel to Toronto to take on the York Lions. Puck drop is slated for 2pm.
Source: Waterloo Warriors
ST. CATHARINES, ON - The Brock University women's hockey team (6-2-11-1 OUA) dropped a 5-1 decision to the last place Ryerson Rams (3-0-16-1 OUA) Saturday afternoon at the Seymour-Hannah Centre.
The Badgers still remain nine points out of the final OUA playoff spot, with a possible 12 points to get in their final four games.
Ryerson added one goal in the first period and two goals in both the second and third, as they recorded just their third win of the regular season. Scoring for the Rams were Malthaner, Blair who added two goals and one assist. Adding single goals were Karli Nummikoski, Michelle Evagelou and Alyssa Connolly.
Brock's lone goal scorer was Cara Sayles (Welland, ON).
In goal, Brock starter Stephanie Loukes (Oakville, ON) suffered the loss allowing three goals on 12 shots. Jensen Murphy (KIngston, ON) collected 20 saves in a no decision. Ryerson's Sydney Authier registered 26 saves for the win.
The Badgers return to action Sunday, February 7th as they take on the Western Mustangs on the road.
Source: Brock Badgers
SUDBURY, Ont. (February 6, 2016)- The Queen's Gaels women's hockey team bounced back from a narrow defeat on Friday evening to shutout the Laurentian Voyageurs 3-0 on Saturday afternoon at Countryside Arena.
GAME FLOW
First-year forward Emily Jukosky picked up her second goal of the season at the 12:33 mark of the first period, which would turn out to be enough for netminder Caitlyn Lahonen, who stopped all 30 shots she faced. Lahonen (Saskatoon, Sask.), who leads all OUA goalies with 527 total saves in the regular season, earned her sixth shutout of the year.
Jukosky (Stirling, Ont.) scored her first career game-winning goal for Queen's, with assists going to Megan Farrel (Barrie, Ont.) and Micaela Smith (Cobourg, Ont.).
After a scoreless middle frame, the Gaels picked up an insurance marker at 7:23 of the third period on the power-play, as Clare McKellar (London, Ont.) notched her third of the season. Addi Halladay (North Augusta, Ont.) and Dani Gerard (Sarnia, Ont.) picked up assists on McKellar's special teams marker, and Kyla Crouse (Mount Brydges, Ont.) would add an empty netter late in regulation to seal the Gaels 10th victory of the season to help them keep pace in the tight OUA playoff race.
The Gaels are currently in a logjam involving four teams in the middle of the conference, with just two points separating fourth from seventh place. The women are also just three points back from the Toronto Varsity Blues, who are in third-place.
BY THE NUMBERS
4- Lahonen is ranked fourth amongst OUA goalies in save-percentage (.950) and goals-against average (1.40)
20.8%- The Gaels hold the top-ranked power-play in the OUA, working at a 20.8% efficiency
UP NEXT
The Gaels return to Kingston next weekend for their final homestand of the regular season. Queen's plays host to the Ryerson Rams on Saturday afternoon, and will return for a Sunday matinee against the Blues on Sunday. Both games are scheduled for 3:30 p.m., and will take place at the Invista Centre.
Source: Queen's Gaels
Milestone night highlights Lakers big win
Saturday afternoon was a game of firsts for the Nipissing Lakers women's hockey team - in more ways than one.
We'll begin with the fact the Lakers celebrated their first graduates - three players who have been with the team since day one. Next, Lakers goalie Micaela Stutzki earned her first career OUA win with a 15 save performance and last, but certainly not lease, Nipissing defender Victoria Bugg scored her first career goal with a rocket from the point.
All those feats added up to a convincing 6-1 win over the visiting UOIT Ridgebacks as the Lakers closed out the home portion of their regular season with back-to-back wins.
The Lakers struck first, late in the first period, as Sam Strassburger retreived a loose puck and fired it to the back of the net while Nipissing was on the power play.
Strassburger's fifth goal was assisted by Zosia Davis and Brooklyn Irwin.
UOIT would tie the game in the second period, scoring their lone goal of the contest, but from there, it was all Lakers.
With the score 1-1, Nipissing would go on to score five straight goals, including three in the second period.
Carly Marchment would score her first of two on the game, giving the Lakers the lead once again. Her and her linemates did great work down low and as she drove to the net, she was hit with a perfect pass that she redirected home for what would stand as the game-winner.
Kaley Tienhaara and Ava Keis drew the helpers on the go-ahead goal.
Taylor Murphy made it 3-1 just 14 seconds late on a scramble in front of the UOIT net.
Irwin earned her second assist of the game, while Strassburger grabbed her second point as well.
Marchment would add to the Lakers lead with her second of the period, finding the back of the net for the fifth time this season. Tienhaara and Jade Gauthier set up Marchment's second tally of the game.
The Lakers kept the pressure on, scoring twice more in the third.
First, Stacey Hensahw fired home a rocket from the slot, making the score 5-1. Marchment earned her third point of the night with an assist, while Janica Vossos did a great job down low to dig the puck out and put it in front of the net.
Finally, to put an exclamation mark of the victory, Victoria Bugg hammered home her first career tally, blasting one from the point that hit the top corner.
Kaitlyn McManus and Bronwyn Bolduc set up Bugg's goal.
In all, four players finished with multi-point games, led by Marchment's three.
In goal, Stutzki wasn't overly busy, but was good when called up in earning the win. She finished with 15 saves.
The Lakers, who won their 13th game of the season and earned their 43rd point, will now head on the road for the season finale. They'll take on the top ranked Guelph Gryphons on Sunday, Feb. 14.
Source: Nipissing Lakers
