CIS women's hockey Sunday roundup: Ravens topple top-ranked Martlets on road

KINGSTON, Ont. - Shawna Griffin of Redwood Meadows, Alta. scored twice on the afternoon including the game winner late in the third period to lead the No. 9 Queen's Gaels (11-6-3) over the Brock Badgers (9-10-1) 3-2 on Sunday afternoon OUA hockey.

Griffin had a pair of goals to lead the Gaels, including the game winner which came with less than five minutes remaining in the third period. Morgan McHaffie of Guelph, Ont. chipped in with two assists for the Gaels, while Karissa Savage of Calgary stopped 35 of 37 shots for the win. The Badgers were led by Jaclyn Conacher of Burlington, Ont. who had a goal and an assist on the afternoon.

The Gaels got out to an early lead in the first period scoring on two occasions, the first coming off the stick of Kelly Eustace of Oakville, Ont. for her second goal of the season and second from Griffin.

Savage held the Badgers at bay in the first two period stopping all 25 shots faced in the opening 40 minutes of play. The Gaels would hold over their two goal lead entering the final period.

Brock managed to battle all the way back with a goal from Conacher only 41 seconds in then another to tie the game at two when Conacher set up Laura Neu of Ayr, Ont. for her second goal on the season.

With just 4:57 remaining Griffin broke the tie giving the Gaels the advantage once more. Assistant captain's McHaffie and Katie Duncan of Waterloo, Ont. added the assists on the goal. From there on Savage held the Badgers at bay and the Gaels secured the victory.

Queen's returns to action next Saturday January 28 when they travel to London to take on the Western Mustangs. Game time is set for 2pm.

Source: Queen's Sports Info

The CIS ranked No. 4 X-Women played a solid road game Sunday afternoon and defeated CIS No. 5 Moncton 5-2 in a marquee match-up between the top two AUS women’s hockey team. Alex Normore added to her lead league in points, helping the blue and white with 1 goal and 2 assists in the game, while Janelle Parent netted two goals for the X-Women.

The win marked the first time the X-Women defeated the Aigles Bleues this season as Moncton took two games from StFX in November.

After losing 4-1 to the St. Thomas Tommies the day before, it was important for StFX to have a good start to this game, and they did just that. Jessica McCullough scored a power play goal at the 4:32 mark of the first period to open the scoring, with Normore picking up her first assist of the game. Erin Brophy cushioned the lead to 2-0 for the X-Women at the 10:34 mark, assisted by Sadie Whaley, as the two-goal lead held after one period of play.

The teams traded two goals apiece in the second period as the game started to open up. Moncton’s Janick Robichaud netted a power play marker at 2:27, with assists going to Johannie Thibeau and Marie-Pier Arsenault, to cut the lead to one and get the home side on the board. The momentum for Moncton would stop there however, as Janelle Parent scored two quick goals for StFX three minutes apart. Suzanne Fenerty assisted on the first Parent goal, while Brittney Perkins and Alex Normore picked up helpers on the second one, as the X-Women went up 4-1.

Before the second period was over, Aigles Bleues Marie-Michelle Poirier scored at the 15:51 mark from Amelia Dion, to make things interesting with a 4-2 score heading into the third period.

The final period was a very tight checking affair, with both teams unwilling to give up an inch on the ice. The period remained scoreless until four seconds left in the game when Normore collected her third point of the afternoon and league leading 37th point of the season, on an unassisted empty net goal to seal the 5-2 win for the X-Women.

The shots on net were very close, with StFX outshooting Moncton by a slim 31-30 margin. Kristy Garrow stopped 28 shots in the X-Women goal while Jenna Van Belois and Kathy Desjardins combined for 26 saves for Moncton.

The StFX performance was a much improved showing coming off a disappointing 4-1 loss to the St. Thomas Tommies the previous day in Fredericton.

Tommies goaltender Julia Sharun played an outstanding game for the home team, turning aside 42 X-Women shots. St. Thomas netted four goals on only 16 total shots on net.

Their first goal came from Cassidy McTaggart at the 8:56 mark of the first period, from Jenna Scott. They increased their lead to 2-0 heading into the second period after Brianne Bohn scored unassisted at 10:49 of the first period.

The second period brought no scoring from either squad. Janelle Parent pulled the X-Women to within a goal as she scored off an Alex Normore puck 1:58 into the third period. Tommies Jordan Miller quickly regained the two-goal advantage 28 seconds later with an unassisted marker, then Kayla Blackmore sealed the victory with a late power play goal at 19:09.

After the 1-1 weekend, the X-Women remain in first place in the AUS conference with a 14-3-0 record and 28 points, only one up on second place Moncton (13-2-1). Both have clinched AUS playoff berths. Next on the StFX schedule is a Saturday afternoon game on January 28th at the StFX Keating Centre as the sixth place Dalhousie Tigers (5-9-2) will be in town for a 2:00 pm game. The Aigles Bleues will travel to Sackville, N.B. to take on the fourth place Mount Allison Mounties (7-5-3) on Sunday, January 29th.

Source: StFX Sports Info

Carleton defeats McGill for the first time in school history (1-63-1)

MONTREAL -- Sydnie MacDonald scored the deciding marker in a post-overtime shootout as the visiting Carleton Ravens stunned the McGill Martlets, the No.1-ranked women's hockey team in the nation, 4-3, at McConnell Arena, Sunday.

Carleton took the shootout session 2-1 and the result marked their first-ever win in 65 lifetime meetings with McGill, which owns a 63-1-1 overall record since the two teams first tangled in 1999.

McGill, which leads the Quebec conference with a 12-1-1 record, had a 39-20 advantage in shots but were stymied on numerous occasions by sophomore Tamber Tisdale, a 5-foot-9 goalie from Red Deer, Alta., who registered 36 saves and turned aside five of six in the lengthy shootout, which featured 12 skaters.

The vaunted Martlets power-play, which leads the league with a 24.7 per cent success rate, went 0-for-5 against the Ravens (5-4-3), who have killed off only 74 per cent success rate.

"We came out flat and had a hard time recovering," said Peter Smith, head coach of the Martlets, who all but said that his team underestimated the Ravens. "It's not the first time we've done that this season but usually we work ourselves back into the game. Today, we just had a tough time getting back at it."

Carleton led 2-1 after the opening period on goals by defenceman Erin Beaver at 1:38 and Claudia Bergeron at 11:55, sandwiched around a marker from Kim Ton-That of Beaconsfield, Que., at 4:27.

"We had too many passengers in the game today and just didn't move the puck," said Smith. "We're a good team but the reason why is because we usually play as a team. We didn't do that today... Carleton played hard, worked hard and forechecked us well and did a good job against us."

Rearguard Stacie Tardif, a senior from Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Que., tallied twice for the Martlets, evening the score at 2-2 with just 15 seconds remaining in the middle stanza and at 7:51 of the third period to give McGill a 3-2 lead.

But Carleton blueliner Sarah Seiler, a native of Germany, connected on a power-play that caromed off the crossbar at 13:04 of the final stanza to force overtime.

In the post-overtime shootout, Melanie McKnight of Barrie, Ont., beat McGill netminder Charline Labonté between the legs on Carleton's first shot. The next six shooters failed to score until Ann-Sophie Bettez of Sept-Iles, Que., connected on McGill's fifth and final shot in the opening round. In the sudden-death round, McGill's Katia Clement-Heydra took her second attempt and was halted by Tisdale, which opened the door for a Carleton victory on the next shot.

Labonté, who was credited with 16 saves on 19 shots, was saddled with her second lost in 12 starts. In 79 career regular season starts with the Martlets, the three-time Olympian now owns a 76-3-0 record.

McGill, which is 16-1-1 against CIS teams this season, will head to the nation's capital looking for revenge next weekend. They play the Ottawa Gee-Gees and Carleton in back-to-back games, Jan. 27-28.

"(Our team is) mad, embarrassed and didn't play well," added Smith. "They're not happy...I can guarantee that we'll have an extra spark (in the rematch at Carleton next week)." 

MARTLET MURMURS: Among the McGill lineup scratches was team captain Cathy Chartrand, the fifth-best point-getter in the nation among defencemen, with a 5-9-14 record in only 13 games. The two-time All-Canadian suffered a leg injury in an exhibition game against the NWHL's Montreal Stars on Jan. 18. She is considered a doubtful starter for next weekend's games in Ottawa.

Source: McGill Sports Info

TORONTO - The Toronto Varsity Blues scored four times in the first period, including three times in the first six minutes, in a 4-1 victory over the host Ryerson Rams on Sunday afternoon at George Bell Arena.

Jacqueline Scheffel opened the scoring for the Blues just 43 seconds into the contest when she banged a loose puck past Rams goaltender Emma Crawley.

Toronto would go up by two just five minutes later as Amanda Ricker tipped Kaitlyn Bannon's point shot past Crawley. Amanda Fawns made it 3-0 just 10 seconds later on a 2-on-1, depositing the rebound from a shot by Kelly O'Hanlon.

Dana Carson would replace Crawley between the pipes for the Rams but the Blues would add one more before the first intermission. Ragan Danford would convert a pass from Callie Bazak to make it 4-0.

The Rams would get on the board five minutes into the third period when captain Kyla Thurston notched her team-leading 10th of the season. The Ajax, Ont. product jumped on the rebound off a Victoria Arci point shot and blew it by Toronto goaltender Krista Funke.

Carson stopped 16 of 17 shots in 53 minutes of action, while Crawley stopped 4 of 7 shots before being replaced by Carson. Funke stopped 26 of 27 shots as the Rams outshot the Blues 27-24.

Toronto was 0-for-7 with the man advantage, while the Rams were 0-for-5 on the power play.

The Rams will visit Brock on Thursday (Jan. 26).

Source: Ryerson Sports Info