CIS women's hockey Sunday roundup

A good crowd came out to support their Gee-Gees in their first game at home, with family and friends proudly wearing the jerseys of their hockey stars on the ice.

The win came down to a nail-biting shoot-out and it was third-year forward Fannie Desforges, Fournier, Ont., who would come through for the Gee-Gees, faking out Concordia's goalie and to score the game winning goal in the second round of shots.

"I was nervous, really nervous," said Desforges when asked about how she felt going into the shoot-out. "When the coach called my name I just sat down and said, 'okay', and just refocused. Then, after Blair [Kitlar] took her shot I asked her what she saw on the goalie and she said everything was open up top. The coach told me to fake that and then go around so I did that, and I was just really happy when the puck went in the net."

The score was still 0-0 heading into the third period, so it was anyone's game. The Gee-Gees didn't waste any time and fourth-year forward and team captain Érika Pouliot, St. Joseph de Beauce, fired a shot past Concordia, to give them a one point lead. However, with 6:31 remaining, the Stingers would answer with a game-tying goal to bring things into overtime, which soon would continue on into the shoot-out.

Pouliot said that picking up their first victory at home "was a lot of fun. Especially in front of our parents and everyone who came out to watch us. We worked hard all week for this win. It feels good."

Head coach Yanick Evola was certainly pleased with the team's first win of the season. More than anything, he said it came down to the girls knowing their positions on the ice, knowing their responsibilities on the fore-check and also on defence.

Having an incredible game in net for the Gee-Gees was second-year goaltender Kaitlynn Blasco, Milton, Ont. "She had a good game for us yesterday, so we wanted to reward her today and she did a great job," said Evola.

"It's been two weeks now that the season has and that the team has been looking to win, so this victory will certainly give the team some energy," Evola added. "When you keep having close games that can go either way, it's hard on the team's morale, so I think this will give us some confidence and help us know we can win."

The Gee-Gees now have exactly one week to prepare for their next match against the McGill Martlets (2-0-0 RSEQ) next Sunday, October 31. Game time is 2:00 p.m. The game will be broadcasted live on SSN Canada.

Source: Ottawa Sports Info

Early in the match, the Hawks opened the scoring with Devon Skeats (Whitby, Ont.) assisting on the goal by Candice Styles (Orangeville, Ont.), the tenth of her career. She finished the night with one goal and one assist. From here on out, the game became rough as tempers boiled. The teams combined for eighteen minor penalties in the game. The Hawks went 0-8 on the power play while the Badgers went 1-10. Both teams failed to capitalize on a five-on-three opportunity.

That power play goal was scored in the second period by defenseman Maja Samborski (Toronto). After two periods of play, the Badgers had out shot the Hawks 21-20.

Laura Brooker (Fergus, Ont.) scored what would eventually be the game winner at 3:26 of the third, her fourth of the season. The Hawks could not bury an insurance marker as the Badgers ran into penalty trouble after the goal. After they killing off another penalty late in the game, the Badger pulled their goalie, but could not find the equalizer.

Both netminders played very well as Lix Knox (Stouffville, Ont.) blocked 26 of 27 shots and Beth Clause (Hamilton, Ont.) turned aside 31 of 33.

The Hawks next game is away against Windsor on Saturday, October 30th. The puck drops at 4:10 p.m.

Source: Laurier Sports Info

"It was a fantastic pair of games with Queen's over the weekend," said UOIT head coach Karen Nystrom. "Today's success was attributed to solid goaltending by Larabie and improved execution with our specialty teams. The coaching staff is very proud of the team performance achieving a three of four points weekend."

UOIT goalie Jessica Larabie picked up her first career shutout on Sunday as the Ridgebacks skated to a 4-0 victory. The shutout performance came one day after the Pickering native shutout Queen's for three periods of regulation. The Gaels would eventually come out with a 1-0 overtime win.

In 122:21 minutes this weekend, Larabie allowed only one goal on 64 shots for a 984 save percentage, leading the Ridgebacks to three points.

In Sunday's 4-0 shutout victory, Megan Steacy and Gillian Morgan each had two goals. Steacy's goals were both in the second period, while Morgan scored twice in the third period. Rikki Palmateer and Jaclyn Gibson each had two assists in the win.

The Ridgebacks penalty killing unit was perfect over the weekend shutting out the Queen's power play on 12 attempts. UOIT is leading the OUA in penalty killing efficiency this season, allowing only three goals on 32 opportunities (.906 per cent).

The Ridgebacks are 2-3-1 on the year and are alone in sixth place in the OUA. The team will be back on the ice on Monday afternoon as they host team China at the Campus Ice Centre. Puck drop for the special exhibition game is at 1:30 p.m.

Source: UOIT Sports Info

With the loss, the Blues are 2-4 and sit in seventh place in the OUA standings.

Manon Davis's powerplay goal midway through the third period would prove to be the game-winner. The Sudbury, Ont., native received a pass from Courtney Spoors in front of the net and roofed the puck over the glove of Blues goaltender Kendyl Valenta.

Spoors (Kingsville, Ont.) opened the scoring with one-of-three Windsor powerplay goals midway through the first period. Varsity Blues player of the game Robyn Law of Markham, Ont., evened the score when she received a breakaway pass from Natalie Hughes and made no mistake, slipping the puck through the legs of Windsor goalie Jamie Tessier (Copper Cliff, Ont.).

Stephanie Herbert scored after a scramble in front of Toronto's net to give the Lancers a 2-1 lead after the first period of play.

In what proved to be a penalty-filled affair, veteran forward Brenley Jorgensen of Kingston, Ont., evened the score with a powerplay marker in the second period.

The third period saw five goals scored. Windsor built an early two-goal lead with a powerplay goal from Candace Rapchak before Spoors added her second of the game.

The Blues narrowed the gap when Ajax, Ont., native Lindsay Hill picked off a Windsor pass, split the defence and put the puck past Tessier into the bottom left corner of the net.

After Davis extended the lead for good, Law notched her second goal of the game to bring the game within one. Despite a six-on-four advantage for 1:08, the Blues were unable to solve Tessier again.

The Varsity Blues return to the ice next Saturday, October 30 when they travel uptown to take on the York Lions. Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Source: Toronto Sports Info