After suffering a bruising loss to the University of Montréal on Friday, the Stingers women’s ice hockey team found no relief from the University of Ottawa’s Gee-Gees, who soundly beat them 5-2.
“I was happy with our performance, I think we played quite well, certainly better than we did last night. We need to create some more offensive opportunities, but I think we did quite well,” said head coach Les Lawton after the game.
Ottawa came out fast; within three minutes they had posted five shots, two off a giveaway in Concordia’s zone that saw goalie Audrey Doyon-Lessard scramble to make the saves. Their energy betrayed them though, as six minutes in they received the first penalty of the game when Jodi Reinholcz was called for body checking. Concordia would go on the powerplay.
The Stingers decided to make something out of their advantage. Twenty seconds after the player went in the box, Veronica Lang passed the puck from behind the net to her teammate Erin Lally, who was waiting in front. She slipped it in on Gee-Gee’s goalie Stephanie Auger five-hole to score the first of Concordia’s two goals.
The favour was returned shortly when Stinger Alexandra D’Ambrosio took Concordia’s first penalty of the game for hooking. Soon after the ensuing faceoff, Gee-Gee Michelle Snowden tied it up at one.
The second period didn’t start well. On the first faceoff of the period, Gee-Gee forward Kayla Hottot won the faceoff, tipped the puck ahead, deked forehand to backhand and put the puck away behind Doyon-Lessard. Less than six seconds in, Ottawa had put themselves ahead, 2-1.
Five penalties were awarded in the second period. Two to Concordia, and three to Ottawa, but neither team could make anything out of them. A nice breakaway saw the Stingers fans’ hope rise, but Auger’s glove made them sink quickly, and Doyon-Lessard kept Ottawa from widening their lead, although this would not last in to the third.
Six minutes into the third period, Concordia had a beautiful opportunity when a cross-crease pass landed soundly on a Stingers’ stick with Auger out of position. The shot fanned however, and the open net was missed. Regretting the missed chance, the Stingers redeemed themselves when a scuffle in front of the net saw Alyssa Sherrard put one past the goalie, tying it up at 2-2.
Two minutes later, Ottawa took the lead again when a turnover at the Concordia blue line led to Gee-Gee Alex Jaworski picking up the puck and passing it to teammate Alicia Blomberg, who went crashing into the Stingers’ net along with the puck. The referees ruled it a goal however, and suddenly Ottawa was up 3-2.
When Stinger Danielle Scarlett took a penalty halfway through the period for hooking, things started to look grim. The resulting powerplay would see Gee-Gee Fannie Desforges put the nail in Concordia’s coffin when she took a wrist shot from the point that went over Doyon-Lessard’s blocker. Ottawa was up 4-2.
Desperate to stay in the fight, the Stingers pulled their goalie with a minute and a half left. The decision, while made with good intentions, ended sourly when Ottawa added insult to injury, scoring an empty net goal, putting themselves up 5-2, the final score.
The Stingers are in third place in the Quebec conference with 16 points, two points behind Montréal and one point ahead of Ottawa. They have this week off.
