Stingers win 1-0 against a relentless team from the Université de Montréal
One goal, impeccable goaltending and a stingy penalty kill was all the Stingers needed to claim their third victory of the season on Nov.13 at Ed Meagher Arena.
Heading into Friday night’s game, the Concordia Stingers were riding a three-game losing streak and had the division’s best team coming in to face them at home. Their opponent, Université de Montréal, came into the game on a three-game winning streak while holding down first place in the RSEQ division with a 4-1-1 record. The Stingers had their backs up against the wall, however the silver lining was that they had beaten the Carabins in their opening game of the season 2-1.
Concordia did not wait long to make their presence felt. Stinger forward Keriann Schofield opened the scoring five minutes in with a bullet of a wrist shot which beat Montreal’s goaltender Marie-Pier Chabot.
“Honestly, I didn’t even look at the net. I just shot it hard and it ended up beating the goalie,” said Schofield.
It turns out Schofield’s first period goal was all the team needed to secure their third win of the season, however the indisputable first star honours went to Concordia’s goaltender Katherine Purchase. If it wasn’t for her efforts between the pipes, the outcome of the game might not have been the same for the Stingers. Purchase held off numerous offensive surges from the Carabins and made some superb saves throughout the entirety of the game.
Concordia went on the penalty kill four times throughout the game and despite being down a player Purchase stood tall and made sure to back up her teammates.
“I think our team has one of the best penalty kills in the league which allows me to stay focused in net and remain confident despite us being down a man,” said Purchase. “I’m confident we can kill off any penalty, especially when the shot blocking was as good as it was tonight.”
Photo by Marie-Pierre Savard.
Julie Chu, who has been appointed head coach until Les Lawton returns, was animated behind the bench the entire game. She was always motivating her players and congratulating them when a good play was made. Assistant coach Mike McGrath and Chu both celebrated with a loud high five as the horn blew to signal the end of the game.
“One of the mottos for our team this season formed by Lawton is that everything is earned,” said Chu. “We made sure that was the case today, one shift at a time.”
Chu had nothing but praise for her sophomore goaltender and made it very clear that everyone has full confidence in Purchase.
“She was tremendous,” said Chu. “She was just so steady and calm out there. It really boosted the confidence of everyone on the team.”
“We took it to them tonight, we played hard our first match against them and managed to get a win and the outcome was the same tonight,” said Schofield.
The Stingers next game is Nov. 20 at home against the McGill Martlets where the team will be looking for their fourth win of the season.
