The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team defeated the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees 5-4 in dramatic fashion Sunday afternoon at the Ed Meagher Arena.
The Stingers had a slow start, which led to the Gee-Gees’s first two goals of the game. Stingers head coach Julie Chu said the team didn’t have a good first period.
“We’ve had a good first five minutes, and then got a little bit sloppy,” Chu said. “The second and third periods were much better. Obviously, we have to work on our puck tracking. The Gee-Gees did a good job at executing and creating space for themselves on opportunities, but ultimately we need to find a way to not give up so many opportunities.”
The Stingers found their rhythm in the second period after having some serious scoring chances on the power play. Chu said despite not scoring, she liked chances produced by her team’s power play this weekend.
“We started with McGill yesterday where we had some pretty good looks,” Chu said. “I thought today, we were moving the puck and getting some opportunities. Obviously, we need to continue finding our lanes and getting great screens, as well as putting pucks away.”
When everybody thought overtime was coming after Stingers’s forward Marie-Pascale Bernier scored her second goal of the game to tied it at 4-4, forward Audrey-Ann Rodrigue scored the game-winning goal with just 40 seconds left. Rodrigue used her speed to cut the defender and drive to the net and score. She said she will remember that goal for along time.
The Stingers women's hockey team's offence came to life in the third period as the home team scored four goals to secure a wild 5-4 comeback victory over Ottawa in the 2019-20 home opener. #CUstingers #CUhockey #Montreal pic.twitter.com/WP45Pkd4ne
— Concordia Stingers (@The_Stingers) October 20, 2019
“I followed my intuition and shot it on net, thinking I had nothing to lose,” Rodrigue said. “It was close to the end of regulation, so all shots were big. My parents were there, so I was really happy. I come from far away, so they’re not coming often.”
First-year player Léonie Philbert scored her first career U SPORTS goal in the third period. For Chu, to have contributions from the younger players is huge.
“They’re great players. They’re playing in all situations, and I think that’s really critical for us. We have the veteran presence that has a lot of experience and is able to do a great job,” Chu said. “Yet, we’re also able to put in some of our younger players to gain some experience. I think this is a good test for our team. If people push and work hard in practice, then opportunities will come.”
The Stingers play their next game against the Carleton University Ravens on Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. at the Ice House in Ottawa.
