OUA roundup: Gaels deny No. 8 Lions in season opener shutout

TORONTO - The Queen's Gaels blanked the No. 8 nationally-ranked York Lions by the score of 4-0 on Saturday afternoon at Beatrice Ice Gardens on campus at York University. Rookie net minder Mel Dodd-Moher (Stittsville, Ont.) made 27 saves while Becky Conroy (Pembroke, Ont.) and Kristin Smith (Toronto) each scored twice in Queen's first game of the regular season.

Fourth-year centre Conroy netted her first of the season just 2:41 into the first period with assists coming from Brittany McHaffie (Cambridge, Ont.) and Kelsey Thomson (Martintown, Ont.). Smith would score at 8:05 of the first locking up a 2-0 lead.

Conroy would add her second goal of the game from a pass by Thomson on the power play just 52 seconds into the second period pushing the Gaels to a comfortable 3-0 lead. Smith added her second at 19:22 of the third period.

Conroy, Smith, Thomson and Katherine Duncan (Kitchener, Ont.) would all finish the game with two points each.

The Gaels converted one of two power play opportunities while turning away all five of York power play chances.

BROCK 3, WESTERN 1

At Western, the Brock Badgers opened their regular-season with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over the hometown Western Mustangs on Saturday afternoon.

After the Mustangs took a one goal lead into the first intermission, the Badgers came out with an inspired effort to begin the second frame. The deficit did not last long as Kelly Walker (Brampton, Ont.) converted on the first shot of the period in the third minute after receiving a great cross ice pass from Courtney Sutherland (Mt. Forest, Ont.).

The score remained that way until early in the third period when Brianne Veale (Sault Ste Marie, Ont.) took advantage of a Mustang defenceman's blunder to tuck the puck into an open net for her first career goal. Less than two minutes later, Sutherland took a stretch pass from Amber Wilson (Brantford, Ont.) and deked past Western goaltender Jessica Ulrich to provide some insurance.

Despite some late pressure from the Mustangs, Brock goaltender Beth Clause (Hamilton, Ont.) stood tall, finishing with 28 saves for her first victory of the season.

TORONTO 7, UOIT 3

At Toronto, the No. 9 Varsity Blues came away with a 7-3 victory over the UOIT Ridgebacks on Saturday at Varsity Arena.

The Blues came out flying in the first regular season game of 2009-10, scoring two goals in the first 13 minutes of action.

Third-year forward Brenley Jorgensen (Kingston, Ont.) made a great effort to battle through two defenders and send the puck to linemate Annie DelGuidice (Hamilton, Ont.) all alone at the side of the net. DelGuidice made no mistake, pulling a nifty move to deke out UOIT goaltender Jessica Larabie (Pickering, Ont.) and backhanded the puck into the empty net.

Less than three minutes later, fourth-year centre Emily Milito (Ottawa) picked up an Amy Cornell (Oakville, Ont.) rebound and found herself all alone in Ridgeback territory, sending a wrist shot over Larabie's glove to put the Blues up 2-0.

However, the two-goal lead was short lived as UOIT scored just 19 seconds later. Three Ridgebacks crashed the net off the faceoff and finally scored when Jill Morillo (Whitby, Ont.) found a hole to get her squad on the board.

UOIT continued to press and with three minutes remaining in the first period, Rikki Palmateer (Cobourg, Ont.) picked off a pass high in Toronto's end. She immediately started a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play with Meghan Steacy (Gananoque, Ont.) and Vanessa Johnstone (Niagara Falls, Ont.), who finished it off to tie things up at 2-2 heading into the second period.

The Ridgebacks carried that momentum over as third-year forward Chrissy Tereshyn (Scarborough, Ont.) walked out of the corner and sent a backhand past Blues goaltender Kendyl Valenta (Brampton, Ont.) to take a 3-2 lead early in the second period.

Jorgensen evened the score at the 7:55 mark of the second period, scoring off the back post to finish a low cycle play with linemates Karolina Urban (Kamloops, B.C.) and DelGuidice.

First-year standouts Courtney and Alie Brind'Amour McClure (Waterdown, Ont.) gave the Blues a 4-3 lead with 38 seconds left in the second period. Alie picked up a drop pass from Courtney and shot the puck into the top left corner of the net.

Toronto dominated the entire third period and flooded the Ridgebacks net with scoring opportunities. Eight minutes in, first-year forward Kelly O'Hanlon (Markham, Ont.) walked out of the corner and sent a pass to Ragan Danford (Madoc, Ont.) for her first goal as a Varsity Blue.

Just 33 seconds later, DelGuidice added her second goal of the game on an outstanding individual effort, putting the puck through the UOIT defenceman's legs for an open shot and picked up her own rebound to find the back of net.

Jorgensen garnered her second goal of the afternoon on the Blues power play opportunity. The third-year arts and science student shot the puck off Larabie's leg from behind the goal line to deflect it into the net.

DelGuidice was named the Blues player of the game for her four-point performance. Jorgensen also had two goals and two assists in the victory.

GUELPH 4, WINDSOR 1

At Windsor, the No. 7 Guelph Gryphons won their season opener with a 4-1 win over the host Lancers at the WFCU Centre.

The Gryphons took a commanding 3-0 lead in the first period as Carla D'Angelo (Hamilton, Ont.) got the Gryphons on the board just eight minutes into the contest. Kaitlin Deavy (Greely, Ont.) put the Gryphons up 2-0 a few minutes later, before Jessica Zerafa (Mississauga, Ont.) got her first goal of the season with a short-handed marker to make the score 3-0 heading into the first intermission.

The Gryphons would add to their lead in the second period on a goal from Tamara Bell (Guelph, Ont.).

Windsor finally got on the board as Julie Hamilton (Lucknow, Ont.) took advantage of a Windsor power play, accepting a pass from Candace Rapchak (Stoney Point, Ont.) and Manon Davis (Sudbury, Ont.) mid-way through the third, but it was too little too late as the OUA 2008 finalists opened the season strong.

GUELPH 3, WESTERN 2

At Western, Tamara Bell (Guelph, Ont.) provided two goals and Chelsey Roy (Bathurst, N.B.) made 31 saves as the No. 7 Guelph Gryphons improved their record to 2-0 Sunday afternoon with a 3-2 victory over the Western Mustangs (0-2-0).

Western netminder Jessica Ulrich (Keswick, Ont.) came up big early, turning away Guelph's Erin Small (Pickering, Ont.) on a penalty shot at 9:11 of the opening period.

Kailey Hooker (Mississauga, Ont.) put Western on the board with a seeing-eye shot that found it's way through a maze of legs and in through a Guelph netminder that didn't see the initial release.

However, the 2008 Ontario finalists, Guelph Gryphons would answer 16 seconds later as Bell banged a Jessica Zerafa (Mississauga, Ont.) feed home past 'Stangs netminder Jessica Ulrich (Keswick, Ont.) for her first of two on the afternoon.

In the second frame Guelph out-shot Western 15-6 and Patricia Rose Harris (Colborne, Ont.) walked out of the corner unchallenged, beating Ulrich low for her first goal of the new campaign.

The Mustangs pressed early in the third period as a string of Gryphon penalties forced goaltender Roy to rise to the occasion, stealing some sure goals from the Western attack.

Bell's second goal of the afternoon at 7:44 effectively killed any momentum the Mustangs had generated as Bell received a nifty cross-ice feed from teammate Erin Small (Pickering, Ont.), beating Ulrich with a one-timer.

YORK 3, UOIT 2

At York, the No. 8 Lions women's hockey team took on the UOIT Ridgebacks on Sunday at Canlan Ice Sports. The Lions have never dropped a game against the Ridgebacks and this streak continued as York emerged with a 3-2 win.

The Lions dominated the first period, and made the opening move as rookie Katrina Tollis (Ancaster, Ont.) scored with the help of York captain Courtney Unruh (Fort St. John, B.C.) and Mandy Cole (Peterborough, Ont.).

However, at the beginning of the second period the Ridgebacks responded with two goals of their own. Five minutes into the period, UOIT's Jill Morillo (Whitby, Ont.) scored the equalizer with an assist from teammate Shantel Brown (Gravenhurst, Ont.).

The Ridgebacks didn't relent after the first goal, and two minutes later Brown took a long shot from the blue line allowing UOIT to pull ahead as the puck sailed over goalkeeper Sydney McMurter's (Orillia, Ont.) shoulder.

Under the increased pressure, the Lions sought to regain control and were rewarded for their efforts at 14:44 when Cole, the Lions top-scorer of last year, received a pass in front of UOIT's net from Chloe Milano (Maple, Ont.) and slipped the puck behind a distracted Emma Thompson (Hastings, Ont.).

Soon after, the Lions once again pulled ahead of the Ridgebacks when Jennifer Petkovics (Mississauga, Ont.) scored the winning goal during a scramble in front of the net at 18:15 during a power play. The final period was tense with 12 saves by McMurter. However, with no goals from either team, the game ended with a 3-2 victory for the Lions.

QUEEN'S 6, TORONTO 5

At Toronto, rookie Brittany McHaffie (Cambridge, Ont.) scored the game-winning goal to lift the Queen's Gaels to a 6-5 win over the No. 9 Toronto Varsity Blues on Sunday.

McHaffie netted her first career goal with 7:49 left to play in regulation completing a come-from-behind win against the Varsity Blues. Heading into the third period the Gaels were down by a single goal but Becky Conroy (Pembroke, Ont.) scored the tying goal in the opening five-minutes of the third period and also set up McHaffie on the game winning goal.

Karissa Savaga (Calgary) secured her first win of the season making 33 saves in the victory.

Twin sister Morgan McHaffie (Cambridge, Ont.) also netted her first career goal. Other scorers from Queen's included Alison Bagg (Kingston, Ont.), Kelsey Thomson (Martintown, Ont.) and Shelby Aitcheson (London, Ont.) Conroy, Bagg and Thomson each had a goal and two assists.

WINDSOR 5, BROCK 1

At Windsor, the Lancers got their first win of the season with a 5-1 victory over the Brock Badgers on Sunday afternoon at Windsor Arena.

Manon Davis (Sudbury, Ont.) put the Lancers on the board with her first goal of the season just five minutes into the first period. Cagla Baktiroglu (Cambridge, Ont.) would add to the lead as she scored a power play goal just three minutes later to make it 2-0.

In the second, the Lancers continued to dominate the Badgers as they scored three more of their five unanswered goals in the period.

Davis got her second of the game, while rookie Stephanie Hebert scored her first career OUA goal. Julie Hamilton (Lucknow, Ont.) scored her second of the season to put Windsor up 5-0 heading into the second intermission.

Brock's Emily Hooper (Burlington, Ont.) spoiled Lancer goaltender Jamie Tessier's (Copper Cliff, Ont.) shutout hopes as she scored the Badgers lone goal to make the final score 5-1.

Tessier made 41 saves in the win.

Source: Queen's Gaels, Brock Badgers, Toronto Varsity Blues, Guelph Gryphons, York Lions, Windsor Lancers