CIS women's hockey Sunday roundup: McGill goalie Labonté ties CIS career shutout record

It was McGill's 27th consecutive victory over the Gee-Gees, who were the last QUHL team to defeat the Martlets, posting a 2-1 home-ice decision on Feb. 7, 2007. McGill is now 41-2-1 lifetime against Ottawa.

Labonté, a senior from Boisbriand, Que., made 10 saves for her 32nd career whitewash in league play and is currently tied with Laurier's Liz Knox for most career shutouts in CIS history. However, Knox could move ahead later tonight (Sunday) as the Hawks host Western in a 7:30 p.m. start.

Labonté, a three-time all-Canadian who owns two Olympic gold medals as well as a pair of CIS golden medallions, also registered a goose-egg in her season debut on Saturday, a 6-0 home-ice win over Carleton. She missed McGill's first 13 games of the campaign, including non-conference play, due to a knee injury suffered at a national team training camp in September.

"Charlie's a big piece of the puzzle here," said head coach Peter Smith, who served as an assistant coach with the Canadian Olympic team last spring. "She had a tough time sitting out the injury but had a big smile on her face today. That said, both Andrea Weckman and Taylor Salisbury, our other two goalies, did a solid job holding down the fort in her absence and helped us continue the win streak."

McGill, which had a 43-10 edge in shots on net, broke up a scoreless tie midway through the second period when Kim Ton-That, a sophomore from Beaconsfield, Que., tallied what proved to be the game-winner after deflecting a Cathy Chartrand shot from the blueline.

"We got off to a slow start in the first period but controlled the play the last two periods," said Smith. "We played five real good periods over the last two games and created a lot of scoring chances. It was good for our confidence to play that well as a team rather than as individuals."

Laine Smith, a third-year forward from Aurora, Ont., gave the Martlets some breathing room to make it 2-0 when she pounced on a juicy rebound to beat netminder Kaitlynn Blasco, a sophomore from Milton, Ont., at 6:39 of the final frame.

Rookie Katia Clement-Heydra of St. Bruno de Montarville, Que., put the game out of reach with a power-play marker, stuffing home her own rebound with just over 10 minutes remaining.

Ottawa, which fell to 1-4, will host Carleton (2-2) on Nov. 6. McGill, which owns a 6-0 record versus CIS opponents, including a 4-0 record in league play, will host Carleton on Nov.7.

Source: McGill Sports Info

Montreal took to the scoreboard first when Marie-Andrée Leclerc-Auger (Sherbrooke, Que.) beat Ravens goalie Eri Kiribuchi (Prague, Czech Republic) seven minutes into the match. The first would end with the Carabins holding on to the 1-0 lead.

Valerie Gobeil (St-Bruno-de-Montarville, Que.) would get the first goal in an action packed second period, putting Montreal up 2-0. Sara Seiler (Miesbach, Germany) answered three minutes later, putting Carleton on the board. Kristen MacDonald (Osgoode, Ont.) followed with a successful shot, tying the game at two halfway through the second.

The Carabins would retake the lead shortly after when Kim Deschenes (Saint-Quentin, N.B.) scored a powerplay marker. The following minute Victoria Gouge (Brampton, Ont.) would once again tie the game 3-3. With four minutes to go, Olivia Sutter (Red Deer, Alta.) found the back of the net, but not 20 seconds later Leclerc-Auger picked up her second of the afternoon and the period ended in a 4-4 deadlock.

Deschenes grabbed two powerplay goals back-to-back in the third, giving her a hat trick. With a little under a minute to go, Kaila Lassaline (Corunna, Ont.) got one of her own on the man-advantage when she beat Carabins goalie Rachel Ouellette (Pointe-Claire, Que.) but it wouldn't be enough to overtake Montreal before the final buzzer.

Carleton's record now sits at 2-2-0. The Ravens will look to get back into the win column next weekend when they take on cross-town rivals, the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees. The puck drops at 2 p.m. on Nov. 6.

Source: Carleton Sports Info

Kelsey Thomson of Marintown, Ont., opened the scoring for Queen's just over a minute into the game. Brock responded, however, and would score two goals before the period ended to take a 2-1 lead into the intermission.

The second period was all Queen's as the Gaels had two power plays in the frame and outshot the Badgers by a 15-9 margin. The offence came through roughly halfway through the period as Megan McNutt of Ottawa scored to tie the game going into the third.

In the third, Queen's Morgan McHaffie of Guelph, Ont. scored under a minute into the period. The Badgers would equalize a few minutes later, but Toronto's Kristin Smith would give the Gaels the lead once again three minutes later.

The Gaels appeared to have the game sealed but Sara Brady scored the tying goal with under two minutes to play for Brock which sent the game into overtime.

Overtime wasn't enough to decide a winner between the two sides, and the shootout followed.

Thomson gave Queen's the lead as the Gaels first shooter. However, Karolyn McIlmoyle would tie the score as the third shooter for Brock, and Jessica Fickel scored the winner for the Badgers in the sudden death portion of the shootout.

Other point scorers for the Gaels included Shawna Griffin (Redwood Meadows, Alta.) and captain Michelle Hunt (Mississauga, Ont.) who had two assists each. Kerstin van Bolderen (Medina, Ohio), Elizabeth Kench (Gananoque, Ont.), and Brittany McHaffie (Guelph, Ont.) rounded out the scoring with an assist apiece.

The Gaels will be looking to get back into the win column next Saturday, November 6 when they travel to the University of Toronto to take on the Varsity Blues. The game will take place at Toronto's Varsity Arena. Puck drop is set for 4 pm.

Source: Queen's Sports Info

This is the fourth time in the Ridgebacks last five league games that the team has been held scoreless by their opponent. Although the Ridgebacks are last in the OUA team scoring, UOIT is only one point behind Western and Toronto for the final playoff spot.

The Gryphons got on the board early in Sunday's contest scoring just two minutes into the first period as Kaitlyn Mora snuck one by UOIT goalie Emma Thompson for her third goal of the year.

After a scoreless second period, Guelph would net their second goal of the game scoring just over a minute in the third frame as Dayna Kanis scored her third goal of the year.

Guelph goalie Danielle Skoufranis stopped all 27 Ridgeback shots for her third career shutout. Emma Thompson made 25 saves in her second appearance in net for UOIT this year.

There was some bad blood brewing between the two teams as a scrum developed after the final buzzer. Ridgebacks assistant captain Rikki Palmateer was issued a game misconduct after the dust had settled.

The Ridgebacks fall to 2-5-1 on the year while the nationally ranked Gryphons improve to 5-2-0.

Ridgebacks goalie Jessica Larabie was honoured prior to the game for being named UOIT's first ever CIS athlete of the week.

UOIT will now be on the road for their next four games, before returning to the Campus Ice Centre on Saturday, November 20 when they host the Waterloo Warriors at 3:30 p.m.

Source: UOIT Sports Info

The Lancers came out hard in the first couple shifts, but seemed to lose some steam shortly into it. The Warriors were able to capitalize on some forgetful plays by Windsor's defence, as they shot one past rookie goaltender Kasey Martin.

Although Martin didn't face a lot of shots, she stayed strong throughout the game.

Waterloo capitalized off a bouncing puck in the second period to take the lead 2-0 lead, before Candace Rapchuck brought the Lancers within one with her team's only goal.

Heading into the 3rd, the Lancers staged a comeback firing shots left and right at Warrior goalie Martina Michaud. Michaud stood on her head for the Warriors facing 52 shots by the Lancers.

Michaud's performance kept Windsor off the board and the Warriors took away the Lancers blemish free record with the win.

Windsor hits the road next weekend with a pair of games against the Guelph Gryphons and Brock Badgers.

Source: Windsor Sports Info