Stingers’ struggles continue at home

The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team suffered their third-straight loss on Saturday afternoon, when they hosted the McGill Martlets at Ed Meagher arena. Despite their valiant effort, the Stingers lost 5-1 and now sit at 5-12 on the season.

For the first period, the Stingers held their own against Canada’s top-ranked Martlets squad. Concordia’s cross-town rivals are a perfect 16-0, but after the first, the game was tied 1-1.

McGill opened up the scoring just two minutes into the game with a goal by Martlets forward, Gabrielle Davidson. Davidson was a handful for Concordia’s defence all game as she had two goals and an assist.

The Stingers bounced back, though, and managed to tie it halfway through the first with a goal by Stingers forward, Alyssa Sherrard. It was Sherrard’s fourth of the season and was assisted by linemate Tracy-Ann Lavigne. The shots were seven apiece for the two teams heading into the first intermission, and the Stingers were giving the Martlets all they could handle.

The second period was a turning point in the game as the Martlets started to run away with it. McGill forward, Chelsey Saunders, scored just 38 seconds into the second frame, putting Concordia back on their heels.

Six minutes into the second, Stingers defenceman, Gabrielle Meilleur, got called for hooking and left the Stingers shorthanded. Just a minute and a half later, the Stingers were penalized again. This time, Stingers defenceman, Mary-Jane Roper, was given two minutes for interference. Concordia managed to successfully kill off both penalties, but the back-to-back penalties hurt Concordia’s rhythm.

Concordia was pinned in their own end for four minutes while the Martlets peppered the Stingers’ goaltender, Carolanne Lavoie-Pilon. McGill outshot Concordia 10-5 in the second period, and after the two penalties, Concordia struggled to find their legs. The Martlets extended their lead with a late goal in the second period by forward Katia Clement-Heydra, making it 3-1.

The third period was much of the same for the Stingers. They were outshot 9-4 in the final period and never threatened McGill’s lead. The Stingers pushed hard and did not give up until the final whistle, but they were simply outplayed on Saturday.

The Martlets made it 4-1, eight minutes into the third, with a power play goal by McGill forward Leslie Oles.

Oles, a West-Island native, is considered one of Canada’s great young women prospects.

Every time Oles was on the ice, it seemed that she controlled or affected the play in some way. She was buzzing in the offensive zone all afternoon and whenever she was on the ice, the Stingers defence took notice. Davidson scored her second, and final, goal of the game for McGill late in the third period to make it 5-1.

The Stingers have now dropped seven of their last eight games and have fallen to fourth in the five-team Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) division.

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