CIS women's hockey Saturday roundup: Hurrell's two-goal effort lifts Hawks to win

TORONTO - Karissa Savage of Calgary kept her solid season rolling with a 28 save performance as the Queen's Gaels edged out the Ryerson Rams by a 4-3 score.

The Gaels were the lone team to strike in the first period after a high tempo frame saw lots of shots go both ways. It took 18 minutes but the Gaels got a puck past Rams goaltender Emma Crawley of Herring Cove, N.S., as Katie Duncan of Waterloo, Ont., scored for Queen's on the power play.

The teams traded blows in the second period as both teams scored a goal. The Rams tied the game at one with a goal at the 9:56 mark of the second period, as Janella Brodett of Edmonton put a puck past Savage. It was the first goal of Brodett's career. The Gaels struck back roughly five minutes later when Taryn Pilon of Peterborough, Ont., scored her ninth goal of the season to restore the Queen's lead. The teams entered the second intermission with the Gaels up 2-1.

The Rams struck back quickly and took their first and only lead of the game early in the third period. Jessica Hartwick of Brampton, Ont., and Lauren McCusker of Newmarket, Ont., scored just 16 seconds apart with six minutes gone in the third to give Ryerson a 3-2 lead. Both goals were assisted by Kyla Thurston of Ajax, Ont., while McCusker's goal was scored on the power play.

The Gaels didn't let the Rams keep the lead for long as Alexandria Biglieri of Toronto scored two minutes after McCusker's goal to equalize the game at three goals apiece. Alana Smith of Aurora, Ont., scored her fifth goal of the season with just over two minutes remaining in the game to give the Gaels the game winner they were looking for.

Both goaltenders played well in the game as Crawley countered Savage's 28 saves with 36 of their own despite taking the loss. It was a chippy affair for both teams as they combined for 30 penalties on 15 minor penalties. Special teams played a huge role in the game as each team scored a power play goal while holding their opponents at bay with the penalty kill. The Gaels were 1/7 on the power play while the Rams went 1/4.

The Gaels close out their regular season on Sunday against the Toronto Varsity Blues. Puck drop in Toronto is set for 2:00 pm.

Source: Queen's Sports Info

TORONTO – The UOIT Ridgebacks women’s hockey team could not come up with a win in their regular season finale as they dropped a 4-1 decision to the No. 10 ranked Toronto Varsity Blues.

The Ridgebacks finish the season with a 12-16-0 overall record (10-16-0 conference), setting new a program high for wins and points in a season. The team’s previous high was seven wins, which was set last season.

UOIT’s starting line on Saturday afternoon featured six senior student-athletes as Breanne Hadley, Rikki Palmateer, Vanessa Johnstone, Kara Carter, Jordan Whatley and Emma Thompson all got the start.

After the puck drop, Toronto looked dominant for the first half of the game as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead.

UOIT’s lone goal came on a power play at the 9:06 minute mark of the second period as Sarah Worthington scored her tenth goal of the season. Jill Morillo and Jennifer Daly had assists on the play.

Although UOIT had a number of chances to cut into the Toronto lead in the final half of the game, Varsity Blues goaltender Nicole Kesteris shut the door as she made 29 saves in the win. Toronto picked up two points in the standings to clinch home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Jessica Larabie came into the game in relief for Thompson after the third Toronto goal. She allowed one goal with just over two minutes left in the game after making 15 saves.

Morillo finishes the season setting UOIT highs for the most goals (17), assists (15) and points (32) in a season. She is also tied with two other players for the league lead in goals with one day remaining in the OUA regular season.

Rikki Palmateer played in her last game for the Ridgebacks. The Cobourg native was a member of the inaugural UOIT women’s hockey team in 2007-08. In her career, she played in 133 conference games, the most of any student-athlete in UOIT history.

Source: UOIT Sports Info

WATERLOO, Ont. - The No. 1 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (25-0-1) closed out their regular season in style on Saturday night as they defeated the No. 6 Guelph Gryphons (18-6-1) by a score of 5-0 at the Waterloo Memorial Recreational Complex.

The victory extends the Hawks CIS-best win streak to 18 games as they enter the playoffs as the hottest team in the country.

Rookie forward Jessie Hurrell of Palgrave, Ont., opened the scoring for the Hawks in this one as she beat Guelph netminder Stephanie Nehring of Oshawa, Ont., with her sixth goal of the season just six and a half minutes in.

Laurier would then explode for three goals in the second period as Paula Lagamba of Toronto, Fiona Lester of Peterborough, Ont., and Hurrell all found the back of the net. For Laga mba and Lester, it was their second goal in as many games.

Tammy Freiburger of Wingham, Ont., rounded out the scoring in the third period with her league-leading 18th goal of the season. She would add two assists in the game as well to finish with three points, giving her 30 on the season and tying her with teammate Laura Brooker of Fergus, Ont., for the team lead. Brooker notched two assists in the win.

Both Lagamba and Lester also had multi-point nights as the Hawks demonstrated why they are the overwhelming favourites to capture the OUA Championship heading into the playoffs.

Laurier goalie Erika Thunder of Buffalo Point, Man., capped off an outstanding rookie campaign turning aside all 15 shots she faced for her league-leading 19th win and seventh shutout of the season.

Nehring made 28 saves in a losing cause for the Gryphons.

The Hawks will now wait out Sunday's results to see who their OUA Quarter-final opponent will be in the best-of-three series. Laurier will either face the Brock Badgers, the Western Mustangs or the Waterloo Warriors beginning on Wednesday evening at the Waterloo Memorial Recreational Complex.

Source: Laurier Sports Info

WINNIPEG - Although the playoffs fell out of reach the night before, the Manitoba Bisons had their seniors to play for on Saturday night, as they looked to upset the top-seeded team in the Canada West conference and third-ranked team in the country, the Calgary Dinos.

For the second straight night, though, the aggressive and feisty Bisons (12-8-4) fell to Calgary (20-4-0) by an identical score, 3-2, this time in regulation at the Max Bell Centre.

Leading the way for the visiting Dinos was Hayley Wickenheiser, with a goal and an assist. The other two goals were scored by Iya Gavrilova and Tanya Morgan, respectively. Amanda Tapp was outstanding in goal, holding her own against a Bisons offense that made her make 27 saves.

For Manitoba, another beauty of a goal was put in by Maggie Litchfield-Medd in the second period. That came after Nellie Minshull knocked in one in the first. Leiette Klassen, the Bisons goalie, stopped 14 shots.

Unlike the night before, it was Manitoba who got off to the aggressive start, attacking Calgary goalie Amanda Tapp with the first seven shots on goal of the game. On their first power play of the game, Minshull snuck a backhand five-hole and rewarded the Bisons with a 1-0 lead.

Right back though was all-star forward Hayley Wickenheiser for Calgary, who had sat the night before but made her presence felt early on Saturday, letting go a hard slapshot for a goal late in the first period to tie things up at one.

The Dinos rode that momentum into the second, when the Bisons came out complacent and allowed Calgary to make it 2-1 just 40 seconds in on a Gavrilova goal. Responding and putting her team on her back though was Maggie Litchfield-Medd, who brought the Max Bell Centre crowd into euphoria with a breakaway goal where she dangled off two defenders before sneaking a backhand between the pipe and Tapp’s pad to knot it up at two.

With the script identical to Friday night, and the teams tied at two through two periods, it set up another tight third period. Both teams came out a little slower, but with Manitoba committing the first penalty, the door was open (figuratively and literally) for Dinos forward Tanya Morgan, who buried one from close to put Calgary up 3-2 and provide the eventual game-winner.

For fifth-year Manitoba Bisons Chantal DeSpiegelaere, Kayla Duna, and Addie Miles, it was the last hockey game they would play in a Bisons uniform. All three were commemorated before the game by head coach Jon Rempel.

The Bisons women’s hockey season is now complete. The Calgary Dinos will take their number-one overall seed and host a best-of-three Canada West semifinals series on Feb. 17-19.

Source: Manitoba Sports Info

Doing all they could in a bid for home playoffs, the No. 8 ranked University of Saskatchewan Huskies routed the visiting UBC Thunderbirds 9-2 Saturday night in Saskatoon’s Rutherford Rink.

With the win, the Huskies close out the regular season 16-6-2, while UBC finishes the season 1-21-2.

Saskatchewan will now await the outcome of Sunday’s Alberta Pandas-Regina Cougars matchup to see if they will finish second or third in the standings. If Regina can take a point from the Pandas, the Huskies would host Alberta in the first-ever women’s hockey playoff series played in Rutherford Rink. If Alberta earns a win, the Huskies will travel to Edmonton to face the Pandas in the first round for the second straight season.

Six different Huskies found the net in the 9-2 win including Shelby Davey recording a hat trick and Breanne George scoring twice. Julie Paetsch, Chelsey Sundby, Cara Wooster and George each had three points in the game.

Sundby scored the first of seven goals in the opening period to tie a conference record. Davey tallied her hat trick with goals at 5:59, 8:48 and 15:16 in the first. Before the period was done, Paetsch tallied at 14:40 and George at 16:50 each on the power play. Stone closed out the Huskies’ scoring in the first at 18:17.

Saskatchewan scored two more power play goals in the second period – the first from George at 5:08 and the second by Sara Greschner at 5:50.

UBC’s Rebecca Unrau tallied at 16:58 in the first and Sarah Casorso scored at 8:57 on a five-on-three advantage in the second.

Vanessa Frederick made 20 saves in the win for the Huskies, while Samatha Langford made three saves before Carly Butcher entered the game. Butcher made 21 saves.

The Huskies finished the game 4-for-8 on the power play, while UBC capitalized on 1-of-8 chances.

The Canada West semfiinal series will be played February 17, 18 and 19, if necessary. If Saskatchewan hosts, game times would be 7 p.m. each night. The regular season men’s hockey game scheduled for February 17 would move to February 16 at 7 p.m. in Rutherford Rink.

Game Notes: The 16 regular season wins matched a program-best for the Huskies… Breanne George moved into third all-time in Canada West goals… Sara White matched a Canada West-high 120 games played in her career… The Huskies honoured seven fifth-year players – Breanne George, Sara White, Kristen Bews, Kelsey Tulloch, Kesley Fenton, Julie Paetsch and Vanessa Frederick – in a pregame ceremony.

Source: Saskatchewan Sports Info