CIS Women's Hockey Roundup - Week 4

The (#2) Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks are no longer undefeated, as they were toppled by the (#7) Windsor Lancers on the road this weekend, by a final score of 3-2. The comeback victory was a big one for the Lancers as they moved to 6-0 with the win, and handed Laurier their first regular season regulation-time loss in over a season.

Britanny Crago opened the scoring for Laurier, with a short-handed marker just over three minutes into the game. Windsor answered back just seventeen seconds later on the same power play, as Candice Chevalier scored.

With under two minutes left in the period, Laurier’s Laura Brooker notched her fifth-goal of the season, scoring on the powerplay to give Laurier a 2-1 lead heading into the intermission.

Laurier controlled the puck in the second half, getting two powerplay advantages to Windsor’s one, and outshooting the Lancers 11-7, but Jamie Tessier kept the puck out of the Windsor net, keeping the score at 2-1 heading into the third.

Windsor came out firing in the final frame, picking up 19 shots to Laurier’s 5, and it paid off for the Lancers. Just past the halfway point of the period, Brooke Ludolph tied the game up on a play set-up by Stephanie Herbert and Jenny MacKnight. Just four minutes later, Windsor completed the comeback, as Lindsay Hoogstraten scored to give the Lancers the lead, which they were able to hold on to and secure the victory.

Tessier ended up making 24 saves in the contest, while Laurier’s Liz Knox made 29 saves.

In Sunday’s action, Windsor lost their perfect record when they were upset by an overmatched Waterloo Warriors squad. The Warriors were winless going into the contest, but goalie Martina Michaud was determined to make sure that changed.

Waterloo scored first on a goal from Mandy Harrop early in the first period, and then added to their lead just over two minutes into the second thanks to a goal from Nicole Hebert. Windsor’s Candace Rapchak cut the lead in half ten minutes later, but Michaud stole the show in the game, ensuring that was all Windsor would score.

Michaud made 52 saves in the game, as the Lancers outshot the Warriors 53-11 in the contest.

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Laurier, meanwhile, went on to get back on track with a victory over the Western Mustangs in the Halloween night matchup, thanks to a two-goal performance by Devon Skeats.

Laurier scored first on a goal by Katherine Shiriff just over two minutes into the first period. Western answered just seventeen seconds into the second period, as Emilie Canham scored her first of the season. Just over a minute later, however, Skeats returned the lead to Laurier with a short-handed marker, before netting her second of the game on the powerplay in the third, en route to a 3-1 Golden Hawk victory.

Knox picked up her seventh win of the season as she made 12 saves in the Laurier victory, while Jessica Ulrich made 29 stops in the losing effort for the Mustangs.

The win moved Laurier to 7-1 on the season, two points ahead of the Lancers in the OUA standings, though Windsor has a game in hand.

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Elsewhere Around the CIS

The (#1) McGill Martlets shutout both of Ottawa’s universities in their games over the weekend. On Saturday, the Martlets hosted Carleton, and took the strong Ravens team to task, on their way to a 6-0 victory. Jordanna Peroff scored two goals to help lead the Ravens to their blowout win, while Charline Labonte made ten saves in the contest to pick up the shutout.

In their second game of the weekend, the Martlets headed to the national capital to faceoff against the Ottawa Gee-Gees. Labonte recorded yet another shutout, marking the 32nd of her career, and moving her into a tie with Laurier’s Liz Knox for the CIS record for shutouts in a career.

Labonte made another ten saves in the victory, as McGill toppled the Gee-Gees by a final of 3-0 to extend their win streak to 85 and mark their 27th straight victory over Ottawa.

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The Calgary Dinos stole both games in a home-and-home set with the (#3) Alberta Pandas, to launch them into first place in a tightly contested Canada West conference.

The Dinos stole a 2-1 overtime victory in the first game on the road. Hayley Wickenheiser picked up the opening goal of the game, and assisted on the overtime winner, while Amanda Tapp made 34 saves to hold off the strong Alberta attack.

Alberta captain Leah Copeland notched the only marker for the Pandas, who outshot the Dinos 35-19 in the physical matchup, which saw 15 penalties called between the two teams.

On Saturday, the two teams faced off in Calgary, where the Dinos completed the sweep of the two-game set by shutting out Alberta. Wickenheiser scored goals in both the first and third, and Tapp stopped all 23 shots that she faced en route to a 2-0 win.

With the goals, Wickenheiser now leads Canada West in scoring with 19 points (9G, 10A), and is eight points ahead of the second-place Rianne Wight of Regina.

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Moncton Aigles Bleus were no match for the (#4) St. FX X-Women, as the X-Women went on to win rather easily 4-1 at home in Antigonish Friday.

Following a scoreless first period, St. FX scored three goals in the second, and added a fourth in the third before allowing Moncton to get on the board until there was under four minutes left in the game.

Nicole Hansom was credited with the game-winning goal, her fourth marker of the season.

Katie Greenway earned the victory for the X-Women, who made twelve saves on thirteen shots, while Moncton’s Kathy Desjardins was busy, facing 36 shots and keeping out 32.

With the win, St. FX stays undefeated on the season and pushes their record to 4-0.

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In Canada West, the (#5) Manitoba Bisons had a strong weekend, outscoring Lethbridge 13-0 over two games.

On Friday night, at home, the Bisons scored early and often as they dominated the Pronghorns in an 8-0 win. Manitoba captain Addie Miles scored just 19 seconds into the game, and the team was able to put up 2 more in the opening frame.

They went on to score 5 in the second, with everyone getting in on the action, as all eight goals were scored by eight different players. Tara Lacquette made eighteen saves for her second shutout of the season. The win was the biggest shutout victory in the history of the Bisons’ women’s hockey program.

In the Satuday game, the Bisons didn’t do much differently, shutting out Lethbridge 5-0 in that victory.

The Pronghorns were held to just eight shots in the game, helping Bisons goalie Leiette Klassen record her first ever CIS shutout.

Michelle Pawluk scored all three goals for the Bisons, picking up the hat trick, as the Bisons fired 39 shots at Horns goalie Crystal Patterson.

With the wins, Manitoba now has a shutout streak of 127 minutes and 15 seconds.

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The (#6) Guelph Gryphons also suffered a loss this weekend, making them the third of three OUA teams in the Top Ten to do so.

In the Gryphons’ Saturday matchup, they lost a nail-biter to the Queen’s Golden Gaels, in a battle of the goaltenders.

Despite combining for 61 shots in the contest, the two teams were only able to score three goals, with Queen’s picking up the close 2-1 victory. With the game tied at 1-1 in the third period, Brittany McHaffie scored with just over four minutes remaining to propel Queen’s to victory.

Guelph’s Brooke Siddall made 31 saves on 33 shots, while Queen’s netminder Mel Dodd-Moher stopped 27 of 28 shots.

In their Sunday matchup, Guelph gave Siddall a break, giving the nod to Danielle Skoufranis, who posted a shutout to help the Gryhpons secure a victory over the UOIT Ridgebacks.

Kaitlyn Mora and Dayna Kanis scored for the Gryphons in another tightly contested game, that saw both teams fire 27 shots on their opponents net.

The heated game went in favour of the Gryphons, as the Ridgebacks ended up taking three third-period penalties, and an additional three as the final buzzer rang, including a cross-checking major and game misconduct to Rikki Palmateer.

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In RSEQ action, the (#8) Montreal Carabins picked up two wins over the weekend, to move them to 3-1-1 on the season.

In Friday night’s game, they played cross-town rivals Concordia in a defensive battle, which saw the Carabins pick up a 2-1 win.

Despite outshooting the Stiners 34-13, Montreal was only able to put two goals in, with Carolina Martin-Guay notching the winner on a powerplay just before the midway point of the second period.

Montreal was able to hold Concordia to five shots in the third, making it easy for Katrina Giuliani to pick up the win. Concordia’s Audrey Doyon-Lessard was given the loss, despite making 32 saves to keep her team in it throughout.

In their other game, the Carabins found themselves in the opposite type of game, picking up a 6-5 victory over Carleton.

The game went back and forth with Montreal giving up three leads in the game, but in the end Kim Deschenes' hat-trick coupled with Marie-Andree Leclerc-Auger's two-goal night was just enough to lift the Carabins over the Ravens squad.

A big part of the win came courtesy of the Carabins penalty kill, as they held the Ravens to just one powerplay goal despite giving them seven opportunities. The Carabins outshot the Ravens 35-33 in the victory, with Montreal’s Rachel Ouellette getting the win, and Carleton’s Eri Kiribuchi getting the loss.

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The (#9) Regina Cougars picked up a win and a loss this weekend as they travelled to Vancouver for a two-game set against UBC.

In the Friday game, the Thunderbirds were able to earn a hard-fought shootout victory over the Cougars, which saw the first twenty players miss in the shootout. Kirsten Mihalcheon scored back-to-back shootout goals in the eleventh and twelfth rounds to secure the 4-3 UBC victory.

Regina standout Paige Wheeler picked up two goals in the loss.

In Saturday’s contest, it was again Wheeler standing out, as she notched the overtime winner as this time it was the Cougars on the winning side of a 4-3 final that saw overtime.

The win came the hard way for the Cougars, who went into the third period down by three and looking out of the game. They managed to climb their way back into the game, however, with Rianne Wight eventually tying the game up with just 50 seconds remaining.

Both goalies were busy in the contest, with UBC’s Melinda Choy making 33 saves, and Regina’s Lisa Urban making 27.

The win is the fourth in five games for the Cougars, and moves them just three points behind Calgary for top spot in Canada West, with two games in hand.

(#10) Saskatchewan was not in action this weekend.

Moves In The Top 10

St. FX & Alberta have switched spots, with ST. FX moving up to #3 and Alberta dropping to #4.

Windsor & Guelph have also switched spots, with Windsor moving to #6 and Guelph falling to #7.

Calgary has jumped into the Top 10, taking the #8 spot.

As a result, Montreal and Regina have each fallen one spot, with the Carabins now as #9 and the Cougars at #10.

Saskatchewan has fallen out of the Top 10.