CIS women's hockey Saturday roundup: Gaels drop battle of top ten teams with 4-3 shootout loss to Gryphons

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock University women's hockey team ended their four-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the York University Lions Saturday afternoon at the Seymour-Hannah Centre.
 
Brock opened the scoring 5:28 into the opening frame when sophomore Jessica Fickel (Fort Erie, Ont.) setup freshman Brittney Cabral (Hamilton, Ont.) who beat York goaltender Megan Lee for her first career goal as a Badger.
 
Just 10 seconds later at 5:38, the Badgers would take a 2-0 goal lead as Fickel recorded her sixth goal of the campaign with Brianne Veale (Sault Ste Marie, Ont.) and Leigh Vanderveen (NOTL, Ont.) adding assists.
 
York would cut the lead to one at 6:22, when Kimberly Ramcharan beat Brock freshman goaltender Chantal Bicket (Oshawa, Ont.) for her second goal of the season.
 
In the second period, the Badgers would answer with three straight making it 5-1. Vanderveen would make it 3-1 at 8:39 with a power play marker.
 
Three minutes later, Brock freshmen Alex Nastasiuk (Barrie, Ont.) and Jaclyn Conacher (Burlington, Ont.) setup Maja Samborski (Toronto, Ont.) for her first of the season.
 
With just under two minutes left in the second, sophomore Katie Howlett (Burlington, Ont.) and senior Hailey Webb (Orillia, Ont.) would setup sophomore Megan Keane (Pefferlaw, Ont.) for her fifth goal of the season.
 
The Lions added a second goal when Stephanie Dovaston scored just over a minute into the third period. It was her fifth goal of the campaign.
 
In goal, Bicket turned aside 33 shots for the victory. Lee registered 12 saves on 17 shots in the loss.
 
The Badgers travel to Waterloo on Sunday to take on the Warriors at 2 p.m.

Source: Brock Sports Info

In the first period the visiting Gryphons were the first to strike. Kristen Nixon of Durham, Ont. beat the Gaels starting keeper Karissa Savage of Calgary for her second goal of the season. Minutes later the Gaels went to the man advantage but could not find a way to beat Guelph first year starter Stephanie Nehring of Oshawa, Ont.

The Gaels outshot the Gryhphons by a 15 to five margin in the first frame, but trailed 1-0 heading into the second period of action.

In the second period the Gaels tied the game at 1-1 when Alex Cieslowski of Oakville, Ont. took the puck in front of the Gryhpon's goal and dropped a back handed pass to Brittany McHaffie of Guelph, Ont. Brittany managed to slip the puck through the five hole of Nehring for her second goal of the year. Morgan McHaffie of Guelph, Ont. collected the second assist on the play.

Only minutes later the Gaels took a 2-1 lead when team captain Kristin Smith of Toronto intercepted the puck from Guelph and went in on a breakaway. Smith made a right to left move to catch Nehring moving as she slipped the puck through the goalies legs for the goal, her sixth of the season.

Later in the period the Gryphons evened up the score on a goal from Jessica Pinkerton of Oshawa, Ont. Pinkerton broke in down the right wing past a Gaels defender and lifted a backhand shot over the shoulder of Savage to make it 2-2.

Late in the second the Gryphon's Jacalyn Sollis of West Vancouver, B.C. took an outside shot that was handled easily by Savage, but the defenceman grabbed her own rebound and flipped it up towards the top of the net. Savage managed to get just enough of the puck with her blocker as it sailed over top of the goal.

Guelph wasted no time in the third period to take a 3-2 lead. Only 38 seconds into the frame with the two teams playing four on four hockey, Jenna Lanzarotta of Mississauga, Ont. fired a shot from an off angle that snuck past Savage.

The Gaels responded later on the power play when Kristin took the puck on the left side boards and fed a pass to the front of the net that Shawna Griffin of Redwood Meadows, Alta. buried to even the game at 3-3.

The game headed to overtime where the Gryphons fired the only shots of the extra period with four. Savage stopped them all and forced a shootout.

In the shootout the Gryphons scored the lone goal off the stick of Pinkerton who deked Savage from right to left to secure the victory.

Savage made 29 saves in a losing effort for the Gaels.

Shootout (Guelph shot first)
Guelph
Pinkerton – Goal
Lanzarotta – Missed
Sollis – Missed

Queen's
M. McHaffie - Missed
B. McHaffie – Stopped
K. Smith - Stopped

ICE CHIPS: The Gaels and Gryphons last faced off in Kingston in the 2010-11 OUA Championship game that was won by the Gaels... Queen's forward Morgan McHaffie and Guelph forward Erin Small each had 24 points coming into this afternoon's game to lead the OUA in scoring

Source: Queen's Sports Info

With the loss, the Lancers are now 7-5-2 in conference play and are in fourth place in the OUA standings.

Manon Davis opened the scoring five minutes into the first period with a power play goal to give Windsor a 1-0 lead. Assists were credited to Courtney Spoors and Candace Kourounis.

At the 16:02 mark of the period, Davis accepted a pass from Bree Polci and Alyssa Baldin to score her second of the game and fifth of the year to give the Lancers a two goal lead heading into first intermission.

Toronto got on the board 6:33 into the second with a goal off the stick of Brenley Jorgensen.

The Lancers outshot the visiting Blues 25-10 in the middle frame but were unable to score on Blues goaltender Krista Funke, as the scored remained 2-1 heading into the third period.

In the third, Courtney Tougas evened the score two minutes into the third period to force an eventual overtime period.

The Lancers outshot the Blues 5-1 in OT, but Funke denying everything the Lancers threw her way.

In the first round of the shoot-out both Candace Rapchak and Toronto's Callie Bazak scored, before Natalie Hughes scored in round two to give the Blues the win.

The Lancers will look to rebound tomorrow afternoon as they host the Ryerson Rams at 4:10pm at South Windsor Arena.

Source: Windsor Sports Info

LONDON, Ont. - Stacey Scott and Katie Dillon both scored two goals as the Western Mustangs downed the Ryerson Rams 7-2 on Sat. Nov. 26 at Thompson Arena.
 
Tara Cation (Caledon, Ont.), Casey Rosen (Toronto) and Lindsay Gidomski (Mississauga, Ont.) scored the remaining Western goals. Ryerson’s goals were scored by Melissa Wronzberg (Thornhill, Ont.) and Emily Rose Galliani Pecchia (Toronto).
 
Both teams started the game ready to play hard as each team was handed four penalties in the first 20 minutes. Scott notched Western’s first goal on the powerplay with an assist by Kendra Deller (London, Ont.). Scott leads the Mustangs in points with seven goals and ten assists in 14 games played.
 
The Rams countered Western’s opening goal on the powerplay with two minutes remaining in the first frame. Ryerson attacked the Mustangs goal and netminder Olivia Ross (Huntsville, Ont.)   slid from post to post to make the stop. Wronzberg was one step ahead of Ross and tucked the puck into the net for a 1-1 tie heading into the second.
 
Cation scored Western’s go-ahead goal at 3:32 after she shoved the puck in past Rams’ goaltender Emma Crawley (Herring Cove, N.S.) off a scrum in front of the net. The Mustangs increased their lead by two goals only five minutes later as the puck was re-directed past Crawley.
 
Ryerson’s Rose Galliani Pecchia brought the game within a goal on a 5-on-3 opportunity. Ross thought she had the puck covered at the top of Western’s goal crease, but the puck came loose and Rose Galliani Pecchia blasted a shot in the back of the net for a 3-2 contest.
 
With five minutes left in the second, Gidomski walked out front and lifted a backhand shot over Crawley’s blocker. Ryerson battled back but couldn’t beat Ross who held strong in net to finish 40 minutes of solid play.
 
Western pulled away in the third frame with three unanswered goals. Scott recorded her second goal of the night off a rebound from Deller’s initial shot. Dillon scored the Mustangs sixth and seventh goals less than four minutes apart. Scott assisted on both Dillon goals.
 
Ross stood on her head to keep Western ahead as the Rams outshot the Mustangs 34-33. The game saw 23 penalty infractions with Ryerson going 2/9 on powerplay opportunities and Western going 2/11.
 
The Mustangs are back in action tomorrow as they host the Toronto Varsity Blues at Thompson Arena with a scheduled 2 p.m. puck drop. For tickets go to http://westernmustangstickets.universitytickets.com/user_pages/category.asp?id=83.

Source: Western Sports Info

OTTAWA - The Carleton University Ravens women’s hockey team rode a strong forecheck and outstanding goaltending to victory Saturday night, as they defeated the Concordia University Stingers 3-0 at home to cap off the first half of their season.
 
With the team reeling on the heels of a four-game winless slump, the Ravens notched two straight wins over the teams directly above and below them in the standings this weekend and were able to reward Tamber Tisdale’s (Red Deer, Alta.) spectacular first-half performance with a shutout as they head into a six week layoff.
 
Kaila Lassaline (Corunna, Ont.) opened the scoring on the power play with a masterful backhand that beat Stingers goaltender Marie-Pier Remillard (Laval, Que.) midway through the first.
 
The momentum stuck with the Ravens, as they dominated the first half of the second period with suffocating defence, roaring speed and controlled puck movement. Concordia couldn’t even register its first shot of the period until after the 10-minute mark.
 
With six minutes remaining in the second frame, the Ravens drew a penalty and finally capitalized after Claudia Bergeron (Drummondville, Que.) took command of a loose puck in the corner, fought off an attacking defender and fired a sharp wrister on goal that Kelsey Vander Veen (Lucknow, Ont.) tipped past Remillard.
 
The Stingers never let down though, as they poured on some relentless pressure near the end of the second and the beginning of the third period, taking advantage of a couple Ravens penalties. Tisdale stood tall in goal, however, and Victoria Gouge (Brampton, Ont.) was able to seal the deal late in the third off a Stingers turnover.
 
The Ravens special teams were much improved from last night, where they surrendered five power play goals to Montreal. They held Concordia scoreless on seven chances and potted two power play goals of their own.
 
The Ravens enter the break with double the amount of wins they had last year at this point and are just four points behind second place Montreal with a game in hand.
 
They return to action on Saturday, Jan. 14 on the road against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.

Source: Carleton Sports Info

CALGARY – The Calgary Dinos women's hockey team closed out its first semester of play on a losing note splitting their series with the Manitoba Bisons, falling 3-2 Saturday night at Father David Bauer Arena.
 
The game was a fierce battle between both squads, with the Bisons outshooting the Dinos 24-21 and scoring the winning goal with less than six minutes left in the match-up. The Bisons were 1-for-7 on the power play, with the Dinos going 1-for-5.
 
The Dinos looked poised to hit the scoreboard early with a Hayley Wickenheiser feed to forward Sinead Tracey, however Bison goalie Tara Lacquette came up with a sprawling save to halt the Dinos' attack. Another great opportunity came on a centering pass from Dinos forward Alex Gowie to a streaking Madison Gee. Gee could not get a handle on the puck, however keeping the score at none-all.
 
It was the Bisons who struck first on a shot by Lesley St. Godard from the point that went over Dinos goalie Amanda Tapp's left shoulder finding the back of the net. St. Godard was assisted by Rachele Bosc, and the goal was her first of the year. The Dinos retaliated less than 2 minutes later with a shorthanded goal by Sinead Tracey, who snatched up a Manitoba turnover in their own zone and went straight to the net, lighting the lamp for the fifth time this season.
 
Rookie defender Stephanie Zvonkovic gave the Dinos the lead at 5:45 into the second period on a slapshot from the blue line that snuck past Lacquette, Zvonkovic was assisted by Erika Mitschke and Calaine Inglis on the on the score. With the Bisons holding a two-man advantage late in the second period Manitoba evened things up on a Maggie Litchfield-Medd score at 18:37. Addie Miles and Michelle Pawluk assisted Litchfield-Medd on her eighth of the year. Shots on goal in the second were even at eight apiece.
 
Dinos goalie Amanda Tapp was tested early in the third facing a flurry of shots from the Bisons. Arguably her best save of them all came on diving foot stop that robbed the Manitoba of the lead. Manitoba took the lead with just over five minutes left in the contest on a blue line shot from Addie Miles that managed to find the back of the net. Miles was assisted by Nellie Minshull on the goal., which proved to be the game-winner as the Dinos could not get the equalizer to push the game into overtime.
 
The Bisons move to 6-4-2 with the win, while the CIS No. 3-ranked Dinos drop to 9-3-0. The Bisons will hit the road again to face the No. 8 Alberta Pandas before they head into the semester break. The Dinos' next regular season came will not come until Jan. 6, 2012 when they face their provincial rival Alberta Pandas in a home and home series.   

Source: Calgary Sports Info