Lacklustre powerplay cost Lady Bees the game

The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Carleton Ravens last Saturday at the Ed Meagher Arena. The Stingers played strongly throughout the game but were unable to capitalize on any of their five power play opportunities. They did, however, manage to slip one shot past Ravens goalie Valerie Charbonneau, who played superbly throughout the game.

The scoring opened when a shot by Stingers forward Erin Lally caused a scrum in front of the net. Emilie Bocchia managed to find the puck, then pushed it in for the goal. Carleton stormed right back with some pressure of their own, led by blue liner Victoria Germuska’s three consecutive scoring opportunities. Stingers goalie Audrey Doyon-Lessard was having none of it, and turned her away each time.
The Stingers were able to stay in the game due largely to both the play of Doyon-Lessard and strong neutral-zone defence. The trap approach held the Ravens scoreless up until the second period, when Jennifer Gordon took advantage of the aggressive defence and jumped into the offensive zone for a quick breakaway, ripping a shot top shelf. The Ravens scored again when a shot by Kristen Marson shifted Doyon-Lessard to one side of the net, leaving the other side wide open for a waiting Kaila Lassaline.

“[Every goal] comes down to hard work on everyone’s behalf, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time,” Lassaline said after the game.
With time running out in the second period, both teams stepped up their efforts. Bocchia almost got her second goal of the night on a breakaway with just 56 seconds left, but Charbonneau’s stick saved it into the corner. After a faceoff in the Ravens’ zone, the puck bounced around a few times before a scrum in front of the net ensued, with time running out before the Stingers had a chance to put it in the net.
After a tripping penalty left the Stingers shorthanded early in the third, Ravens centre Claudia Bergeron took advantage, firing a quick shot in after Stingers goalie gave up a rebound. That goal closed out the scoring for the night, in an otherwise hard-fought game for both teams.

The Stingers were coming off a big 8-2 loss to the Université de Montréal the night before, but head coach Les Lawton said it wasn’t hard to stay focused on the game. “We started the game off down by five, but showed a lot of character the rest of the game. We tried to carry that effort into this game, sometimes we had it, sometimes we didn’t, so we’re really looking to find some consistency to our plan.”
The Stingers lack of offensive firepower was especially evident during their five power play opportunities. Lawton attributed the problems towards the players’ desire to use their most complicated skills. “We’re trying to wait for that perfect play and it’s not developing. We’re making some bad choices with the puck,” he said, “When you’re a little too fine it has a tendency to backfire on you.”

The Stingers will get a chance at their first league win in almost three months when they host the Ottawa Gee Gees Jan. 23 at 2:30 p.m.

7 points amassed by forward Emilie Luck

4 goals scored by Mallory Lawton this season

2.54 GAA for goaltender Audrey Doyon-Lessard this season

19 penalty minutes served by Stingers forward Catherine Rancourt

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