October 8, 2011

CIS women's hockey Saturday roundup

Photo credit The Windsor Star

Laurier	2	Western	1	Final	Boxscore
LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs women’s hockey team played their second game in as many days today at Thompson Arena and came out on the short end as the Waterloo Warriors leave town with the 2-0 win. The Mustangs came out firing in the first period, peppering Waterloo netminder Rebecca Bouwhuis with a barrage of shots, but Bouwhuis was up to the challenge, stopping all 10 Mustang shots. The Warriors opened the scoring late in the first period with Mustangs centre Ally Galloway in the box for cross checking. Waterloo’s powerplay marker was scored at 16:15 of the first period by Ona Mezenberg, with assists from Emma McMillan and Julia Endicott . Despite outshooting the Warriors 10-7, the first period ended with the Mustangs trailing the warriors 1-0. Waterloo scored in the first minute of the second period, when a seeing-eye shot from the point eluded Mustangs goalie Alison Li. The marker by Kate Wagner was assisted by Lindsey Ceaser just 20 seconds into the period. The rest of the second remained scoreless as both goaltenders stopped every shot they saw. Waterloo took the 2-0 lead into the third period and never looked back. The Mustangs team looked tired in the third period, as a number of their shots towards the goal were blocked by a Warriors defender or wide of the net. A late Warriors penalty led to a Mustangs powerplay and a flurry of shots from Kim Brown, Stacey Scott and others but they could not put one into the Waterloo net. Mustangs Head Coach Chris Higgins pulled Li for the extra attacker with 2:43 to play in the third but the Stangs were still unable to get on the scoreboard. The final score was Waterloo 2 and Western 0. The Western Mustangs (0-2) return to the ice next Friday night, October 14 at 7:30 pm at Thompson Arena to face the visiting Guelph Gryphons (1-1). Source: Western Sports Info
UOIT	4	Guelph	3	Final	Boxscore
GUELPH, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphon women’s hockey team gave up an early lead this afternoon (Oct. 8) at the Gryphons Centre, falling 3-4 to visitors, UOIT Ridgebacks. The Gryphons drop to 1-1 while UOIT advance to 1-1. The Gryphons took the lead early in the first period with a power play goal by Jessica Pinkerton (Oshawa, ON) with help from line-mate Jenna Lanzarotta (Mississauga, ON). Carley Nisbett (Lindsey, ON) quickly evened the score, taking advantage of a Gryphon's hooking penalty, with assists by Vanessa Johnstone (Niagara Falls, ON) and Jaclyn Gibson (Cobourg, ON). Fifty seconds into the second period, Gryphon Emily Corbett (Toronto, ON) coverts a centred pass from Captain, Tam Bell (Guelph, ON) to advance the score 2-1 in Guelph’s favor. The Ridgebacks stepped up their game late in the second period; evening the shot count and applying ample pressure on Gryphon goal tender Brooke Siddal (Windsor, ON), but a strong defencive effort and solid netminding allowed Guleph to maintain the lead. The Gryphons widened their lead, early in the third period with a beautiful, top shelf goal by Leigh Shilton (Belleville, ON), assisted by Kandace Charbonneau (Guelph, ON) and Erin Small (Pickering, ON). The Ridgebacks replied seventy-six seconds later with a goal from Jill Morillo (Whitby, ON), assisted by Nisbett. UOIT tied the game early in the third period with a goal from forward, Rikki Palmateer (Cobourg, ON), assisted by line-mate Melissa Berney (Bowmanville, ON) and Morillo. The Gryphons had a few solid chances to take back the lead, but poor stick handling and strong OUIT defence prevented the Gryphons from capitalizing on scoring opportunities. UOIT forward, Jaclyn Gibson snuck in a late goal, assisted by Churley and Katie Gordanier (Gananoque, ON) near the end of the final period, and would hold onto the lead for the remainder of the game. The Gryphons made an attempt to rally back, but were unable to score in the final minutes of the game. The Guelph Gryphons hit the road to face the Mustangs Friday, October 14. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. Source: Guelph Sports Info
Waterloo	1	Windsor	5	Final	Boxscore
WINDSOR, Ont. - The Lancer women’s hockey team split a pair of games to open their season this weekend at home. On Saturday the Blue & Gold sailed past the Waterloo Warriors 5-1, before falling to the Laurier Golden Hawks 4-1. Rookie sensation Alyssa Baldin lit up the scoreboard on Saturday scoring four of the Lancers five goals, including two in the final period and one on the power play. The Lancers held a 4-0 lead in the third period before the Warriors were able to get one past Lancer goaltender Kasey Martin. Martin was outstanding in net making 26 saves to give the Lancers their first win of the season. On Sunday, the Lancers tried to maintain their momentum from the day before and held tight with the Golden Hawks until the final two minutes of play when the Hawks chipped two past Lancer keeper Karlyle Robinson. Laurier held a 2-0 lead in the first before Kristin Bortolotti put the Lancers on the board before the period was out. The game remained tight through the second and most of the third as each team battled hard for the puck. The Lancers will remain home next weekend as they play host to the Guelph Gryphons on Saturday and the Brock Badgers on Sunday. Both games are at 4:10pm at South Windsor Arena. Source: Windsor Sports Info
Toronto	5	York	6	Final	Boxscore \| Recap
TORONTO - Kristie Wilson scored with five seconds remaining in regulation to cap off an incredible comeback that saw the York University Lions women's hockey team erase an early three-goal deficit and defeat the Toronto Varsity Blues 6-5 in its home opener Saturday (Oct. 8) at Canlan Ice Sports. Wilson (Hamilton, Ont.), a fourth-year forward, scored a hat trick on the night but no goal was more important than her final one, which she scored just 17 seconds after the Blues tied the game at 5-5 to avoid what would have been a tense overtime period. Katrina Tollis (Hamilton, Ont.) also had a pair of goals on the night, and Andrea Joyce (Mississauga, Ont.) scored an important fifth goal that gave the Lions their first lead of the game, albeit briefly. Sydney McMurter (Orillia, Ont.) was stellar in goal for the Lions, making 23 saves on the night, most of which came with the game on the line. Nicole Kesteris (Aurora, Ont.) was equally impressive in goal for the Blues, stopping 34 shots against in the loss. In the first period, the Lions got into penalty trouble early, and it cost them. Less than two minutes into the game, with defender Lindsay Brook (Ste. Rose du Lac, Man.) in the box serving an interference minor, Ragan Danford (Madoc, Ont.) was able to find some open space in front of the Lions goal, put her stick on the ice and redirect a slap pass from April Looige (Mississauga, Ont.) past McMurter and in to open the scoring. Just under six minutes later, Courtney Tougas (Thunder Bay, Ont.) put the Blues up 2-0 when she drove hard to the Lions goal and banged home the game's second goal. The Lions were unable to respond before the intermission due in large part to their inability to stay out of the penalty box. They spent almost half of the period serving minor penalties, which left little time to cut into the Blues' lead. Their best chance to score came on a two-man advantage with 2:30 left on the clock, but they were unable to generate many legitimate scoring chances. McMurter, despite allowing two goals in the frame, kept the Lions alive with her solid play, coming up with at least one big save on each of the Lions' five penalty kills to hold the Blues' lead at two. The Lions came out of the locker room looking reenergized to start the second, but it was the Blues who would strike first. Moments after killing a penalty that carried over from the first period, the Blues quickly moved up ice and set up a scoring play from Jacqueline Scheffel to Tougas. Scheffel hit Tougas, who was wide open to the left of the Lions goal, with a perfect, tape-to-tape pass and Tougas converted, banking a shot off McMurter's left pad and in that put the Blues up 3-0. Down three goals and desperate for a momentum shift, the Lions got a couple of gifts from the Blues, which cut their lead to just 3-2 and ultimately changed the course of the game. At the 7:30 mark of the period, with a Lions forward barrelling down the ice on a potential breakaway opportunity, Kesteris came out to clear a loose puck drifting in her direction, but her clearing attempt ended up in the midsection of a trailing Wilson, who quickly recovered and deposited an easy wrist shot into the Blues' wide-open goal. 28 seconds later, the Lions got another gift from Kesteris when she misplayed a weak shot from Tollis that took a couple of rebounds, first off her own padding and then off the back of a defender's skate, before skipping backwards and eventually landing just inside her left post. Less than five minutes later, all hopes of a comeback appeared to be lost when a costly defensive gaffe by the Lions resulted in a shorthanded goal by Kelly O'Hanlon and a 4-2 Blues lead; however, the Lions refused to quit. With less than two minutes remaining in the period, Tollis scored a highlight reel goal, deking through a defender and flipping a nice little chip shot over Kesteris's blocker, which sent the Lions into the second intermission down just 4-3 and with momentum on their side. The Lions completed the comeback at the 8:03 mark of the third period when Megan Finlay (Hamilton, Ont.) fired a low blast on the Blues' goal that careened off Kesteris's left pad and onto the stick of a wide-open Wilson, who made no mistake, burying her second goal of the game past Kesteris's outstretched glove. Less than three minutes later, the Lions took a 5-4 lead when Joyce crashed the Blues' goal following a shot from Kimberly Ramcharan (Mississauga, Ont.) and shoved home the bouncing puck. The Lions managed to protect the lead until the final minute of the game, which is when things got crazy. With less than thirty seconds to play and with a player in the penalty box, the Blues pulled Kesteris to get back to even strength, and Marlie McLaughlin came up with a miracle goal, a blast from the point that sailed through at least three different players, including McMurter, before finding the back of the Lions goal and tying the game at 5-5. With overtime appearing inevitable, the Blues played a bit too confident and sat back waiting for the extra frame to begin. That decision proved costly as Wilson came up with a miracle goal of her own with five seconds remaining to put the Lions back in front, 6-5, and seal the victory. The win put the Lions at 2-0 on the season, after an opening night win over the Ryerson Rams on Friday, and they have taken an early lead in the OUA standings. They will return to action on Friday night (Oct. 14) in Oshawa when they face the UOIT Ridgebacks at 7:30pm. Source: Cody Powell, York sport writing assistant