In a game that featured one team still seeking their first win of the season and one who had only lost once in regulation, it was the winless who became the winner.
The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team paraded into Ottawa Saturday and proceeded to shut down the Gee-Gees in a 2-0 win, with goaltender Audrey Doyon-Lessard making 35 saves for the shutout.
One thing that has plagued the team of late has been goal scoring. Concordia had allowed the first goal in all of their games so far this season.
“We set the tone early,” said coach Les Lawton. “It gave us confidence – we got the lead and it felt good.”
It was the Stingers’ first victory against the Gee-Gees on the road since Oct. 20, 2007 and only their second since January 2004.
The game started well and saw Concordia get on the board early, when Stingers rookie forward Mallory Lawton potted her first goal of the season, shovelling a shot that squeezed through the Ottawa goalie’s five-hole just over four minutes into the first period.
“Her own defence was screening her,” said Mallory. “We’ll take the garbage goals if we have to.”
With the teams playing four-on-four in the Gee-Gee zone, defender Catherine Desjardins saw her penalty expire and joined the rush sending a pass to veteran forward Donna Ringrose who bagged her first goal of the season, doubling Concordia’s lead.
“It was a very good pass [from Desjardins],” said Ringrose. “I shot it high glove then saw it go out and in.”
Throughout the period Doyon-Lessard had to come up big making 14 saves, some of them on her back and some without her stick.
“I felt pretty good out there,” said Doyon-Lessard. “I was able to control the rebounds.”
In the second the team dominated the first few minutes getting chance after chance including a two-on-one led by forward Devon Rich who fired the shot just wide. They were trying to get the puck any way possible, working on the point shots with good tips in front.
An odd thing happened around the six-minute mark of the second, when the referee held her hand up for a delayed penalty, supposedly against Ottawa. Doyon-Lessard headed to the Stinger bench, but when the play was called it was a minor assessed to teammate Catherine Rancourt, to everyone’s confusion.
A big turning point was late in the period when Concordia killed a 5-on-3 Gee-Gee advantage. With both Rancourt and Ringrose in the penalty box, the puck stayed close to Concordia territory, however versatile penalty killing by the Stingers limited Ottawa to only a few weak shots, all turned aside by Doyon-Lessard.
“We controlled our emotions out there,” said Mallory. “Every line contributed to the success.”
Late in the third period, the Stingers killed off a Gee-Gee power play to preserve the shutout for Doyon-Lessard and secure their first regular season win of the year.
“We didn’t have a mental breakdown,” said Ringrose. “We didn’t play anybody else’s game so there was no need for adjusting.”
“It was an ugly win, with higher intensity. The girls have had a frustrating first month with not much success in our league until today,” said
Lawton. “We were a little hungrier today, not giving up something up and not letting our mistakes cost us.”
Concordia men’s hockey frustrated by Ontario Tech in a tough loss
The Stingers outshot their opponent 37–15, only to suffer their third home loss of the regular season.